Spring is almost here, in next 4 weeks the weather starts turning warmer, trees begin to grow their leaves, plants start to flower. And now is the time to make these indulgent and comforting “Sunnundalu“, which nourishes your body and keeps you warm. These quintessential divine and gluten-free laddus comes from the land of Telugu. The humble recipe of SUNNUNDALU, calls for 4 basic ingredients, urad dal, rice, jaggery/sugar, ghee. Additionally you can add cardamom for another layer of flavor and aroma.
These Sunnundalu are very nutritious and indulgent that one cannot stop with having just one laddu. And this recipe is quite simple, fuss-free and easy to make, even a beginner can cook with an ease. Although the traditional recipe only calls for 4 basic ingredients, yet you can add some dry roasted nuts for added richness and nuttiness.
Black gram or urad dal is rich in protein, minerals and fiber, hence making it one of the superfoods. Urad dal is one of the most commonly used lentils in the Indian kitchens.
Any more avatars of sunnundalu?
I have seen many people adding millet flours, roasted nuts, and oats to these sunnundalu. If you love to make it more nutritious, please feel free to add any of the above. But make sure to adjust the sweetness accordingly.
But yeah there are various names associated with these laddus, some call it sunni undalu, minapa laddulu, bellam sunnundalu(if using jaggery), minumula undalu, minapa sunni undalu etc., If you know any other names of this dish please feel free to leave a comment below.
Are these sunnundalu vegan?
As the traditional recipe calls for ghee, it doesn’t make a vegan recipe. But you can use almond butter or any nut butter for binding the laddus, which not only makes it vegan, yet more nutty, rich and delicious.
Other than ghee, ingredients used in this recipe traditionally are urad dal, rice, jaggery/sugar. And these are completely plant based and vegan, so replacing ghee with any nut butter should work.
Ps., if you are allergic to nuts, please refrain from using nut butter. You can instead use pitted dates and adjust the sweetness accordingly or you can even omit the sugar/jaggery and use completely dates to sweeten the laddus.
Tips and tricks to make perfect sunnundalu
- Patience is the key here in this recipe, to attain divine sunnundalu, roasting the urad dal/minapappu on a low flame for longer period of time helps in even roast and also brings the best nuttiness and taste out of the dal.
- Traditional recipe calls for jaggery as the sweetener, but few say its sugar. I have tasted both, and personally I love jaggery in sunnundalu, it’s a match made in heaven. The caramel color and taste of jaggery balances the slight bitter taste of urad dal.
- Adding rice to this recipe is optional, but I personally recommend you to add, as it helps in keeping the sunnundalu crunchy and also prevents the laddus sticking to your teeth.
- If you are beginner or making these laddus for the first time or making sunnundalu in large quantities, then I’d recommend you to work with smaller portions. Especially while roasting urad dal and also while shaping into laddus.
- It is very important to note that ghee has to be sizzling hot while adding to the laddu mixture. Because ghee acts as the binding agent here, so work with small portion, add some hot ghee and roll immediately.
- If you are looking to make a vegan version or nut-free version, checkout the above section.
Check out more delicious desserts and Indian sweets from my blog.
Palm jaggery whole wheat biscuits
SUNNUNDALU
Equipment
- Skillet
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup Urad dal (with or without skin, both work just fine)
- 1 cup Jaggery powder or grated jaggery/powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp Raw rice
- 1 tbsp Cardamom powder optional, but recommended
- ⅓ cup Ghee
Instructions
Prepping the urad dal (optional)
- Wash the urad dal in a colander under cold running water, and keep rinsing until the water runs clear.
- Now drain the water completely, and spread a thick cotton cloth/ clean bedsheet (2*2 feet or big enough for the dal to spread evenly).
- Now transfer the washed rice on the thick cotton cloth and spread the urad dal evenly, leave for 10-15 mins until dal dries out completely.
Let's keep everything else ready in the meanwhile!!
- Measure the jaggery powder/jaggery cube and if you are using the soft jaggery cube, grate it and keep it ready.
- If you are adding cardamom, then take the seeds out of cardamom pods and pound to a fine powder.
It's time to roast the urad dal!!
- Heat a thick bottomed skillet/wide pan, and bring it to high heat. Then reduce the heat to low.
- Now divide the urad dal into smaller portions to roast, and one portion at a time and roast on low flame until it turns caramel brown.Note : If you're using whole urad dal/urad dal with skin on, then it might be difficult to notice the change color, so go by the aroma instead. When the urad dal roasts enough, it leaves a nice nutty aroma.
- Transfer the roasted nutty urad dal to a wide plate and let it cool down.
- Repeat the roasting urad dal until you have finished roasting all the portions. And keep the roasted dal aside on a plate.
- Now add the raw rice to the skillet and roast for 5 mins. Transfer the cooled down roasted urad dal to a blender jar, add roasted rice and blend to a semi-coarse powder.Note : You can also blend to a fine powder, but blending to a coarse consistency is recommended. As it helps in keeping the laddus crunchy and prevents the laddu from sticking to your teeth.
Let's make the sunnundalu mixture
- Heat a saucepan, add ghee and get it to a piping hot consistency.
- Add the blended urad dal+rice powder, cardamom powder to a mixing bowl and mix it thoroughly.
- Now add the sweetener of your choice (jaggery powder/powdered sugar/grated jaggery) into the mixing bowl, mix until everything is well combined.
It's time to roll the Sunnundalu
- Take small portion of the above sunnundalu mixture to a wide plate, and into that plate add piping hot ghee to this mixture, and be quick in mixing it and immediately start shaping laddus.
- Take a handful of mixture at a time, squeeze the mixture, roll and shape tightly into balls or undalu/laddus. Keep them aside on a clean plate.
- Repeat the above process for remaining sunnundalu mixture.
- Let the sunnundalu/urad dal laddus dry out and harden completely, it may take around 3-4 hours.
Storing and shelf life
- Store the air-dried sunnundalu in a clean and dry air-tight container. These sunnundalu stay good upto a month.
Notes
- If you're making a vegan version replace the ghee with nut butter, warm the nut butter slightly, and add it to the sunnundalu mixture. Roll and shape them tightly into laddus.
- If you are allergic nuts and want to make a vegan version, omit the ghee and used pitted dates instead. Chop the dates roughly, and blend to a smooth paste. Later heat the dates paste in a non-stick pan and cook until it turns glossy and smooth, add this dates paste to the sunnundalu mixture and roll into laddus. Here make sure to reduce the amount of jaggery/sugar.
- You can make a huge batch of sunnundalu mixture and store in freezer upto 6 months, take small amount of mixture and add ghee/nut butter/dates paste and roll them into laddus.
If you’ve tried this recipe and loved it, I’d love to hear your feedback, please leave a comment below. And tag your photo and share it with hashtag #mycurryveda on Instagram @mycurryveda or on Facebook .
