By Sandhya Rege Nadkarni
INDIA New England Columnist
Dear New Englanders,
With India New England’s Health Expo fresh on our minds, I am sharing a healthy laadu/laddoo recipe with you that is a fusion between a laadu and a health bar.
These nutritious oats laadus are sure to be a hit with young and old alike ! They are so yummy, that they are addictive!
‘ Dinkacha Laadu’ as it is called in Marathi, is a laadu made with edible gum Arabic, that is known for its health benefits. It is also packed with almonds, poppy seeds and dried shredded coconut. The laadu is generally bound with a sugar syrup. I used dates for their natural sweetness and as the binder in this recipe. I also added oats, walnuts, pistachios, flax seeds….yes snuck in as much of the healthy stuff as I could…….
My children have a lot of funny stories to tell about me sneaking in nutrition when they would have been perfectly happy with ‘junk’ foodJ…a story for another time!
Healthy Oats Laadus
Author- Sandhya Nadkarni @ Indfused
Difficulty- easy
Servings- Makes 12 small size laadus
Ingredients-
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- 1 tablespoon dinka (gum Arabic), powdered
- ½ cup quick cooking oats- I used Quaker quick cooking oats
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 tablespoon flax seeds, freshly ground
- ¼ cup shredded coconut- I used Angel flake sweetened coconut
- ½ cup mixed nuts, toasted and roughly chopped. I used a mix of almonds, walnuts and pistachios
- 10 green cardamoms, shelled and seeds powdered
- Pinch of sea salt
- 12 to 14 pitted dates
To make the Laadus-
- Warm the ghee in a pan and add the powdered dinka. Stir, remove pan from heat. When cool enough to handle, rub the ghee into the powder and set aside.
- Dry roast the oats and the poppy seeds in a pan, over low heat until toasted and fragrant, about 8 minutes.
- Add to the powdered dinka in ghee. Add the ground flax seeds, coconut, nuts, cardamom powder and the sea salt. Mix all together.
- In a food processor, process the dates until they are finely chopped and start clumping together. Add in the combined mixture of oats and nuts etc.(in step 2)
- Roll the mixture into little balls.
These laadus are adorable little pick me ups, giving a boost of nutrition and energy. The kids will find these granola laadus appealing tooJ and you can enjoy them with at afternoon tea with friends!
Love,
Sandhya
Note- For more photos and details, go to- http://indfused.com/2015/05/13/laadu-walks-into-a-bara-health-bar-that-is/
Sandhya Rege Nadkarni
Nadkarni is a food—in fact, fusion food—aficionado. She writes a blog, featuring Indian and Indian fusion recipes that are delicious, easy to follow and creative. She will be writing exactly the same for our readers. She is the creator and publisher of Indfused (http://indfused.com ) an award winning blog dedicated to Indian and innovative Indian fusion recipes. An architect by education, her other creative talents and interests include interior design, kitchen design, arts and crafts, jewelry making and fashion design.
A passionate cook and foodie, her healthy recipes also reflect her extensive interest in nutrition and Ayurveda. Her love for design and color coordination has found its way to food presentation too. She also teaches an array of cooking classes. When not blogging, she is actively involved in the community. She is a Director at the Shishu Bharati School of Indian languages and Culture where she has been volunteering for over two decades.
