A quest and a celebration of Rice; an ancient grain, a fragrant grain, a revered grain, a cereal grain that more than half the world’s population enjoys as a staple food. Thanks to @shalikuta the search for the varieties of heritage rices in my backyard is taking me to the regions I hadn’t much explored yet. It is a journey that consumes you completely. The interactions are enriching and learnings are profound. As of now, it has taken over not just my mind space but also my shelf space – with folk varieties of rice in various shades, shapes and sizes spread all around the house both here and in Ahmedabad. It means I will be cooking with heritage rices more often. It will require me to plan my menus accordingly as Gujaratis aren’t a rice eating community.
The first of many to come heritage rice posts starts on a sweet note, Rice Ladoos made using one of the finest folk-rice varieties of our land. The Shalikuta initiative recently took me to Pondicherry. It was important that all of us who are part of this petit group meet I person and scratch our heads together to decide the future course action of this voluntary effort. Vijhay, who stirs up some heartwarming heritage recipes at his venture @maiyam_pastfood happens to be an integral part of this very diverse Shalikuta bunch. On a dinner meeting at his place we gobbled up some Gandhakshala rice ladoos, trust me they were one of the best I have had in a very very long time. Gujarati cuisine does not celebrate rice as much as southern and eastern states do. We are not a predominantly wheat and millets eating state. And we do not make sweets (that I know of) from rice except doodhpak or Biranj maybe. Naturally, I grew curious and asked for the recipe which Vijhay happily shared. I mention ‘happily’ because he believes heirloom recipes need to flow so that they can be enjoyed and preserved. Gandhakashala is heritage rice variety from Wayanad, Kerala (read more about it on Shalikuta’s Instagram account). It is a supremely aromatic small-grained rice and I was lucky to bring some home as a gift from Vijhay to each of us. I promised Vijahy I will be making the same ladoos. Aparna @aparna.balasubramanian helped me with nuances to it during our chats as roomies. And here we have it. Very simple, not intimidating at all, just three ingredients and the best ladoos ever. Ofcourse, the rice makes a huge difference to the taste and feel of the ladoo. So be wise and choose any small-grained aromatic folk rice of your region. There are many if you care to look around. In Gujarat, we can use good quality Krishna Kamod.
Over to the recipe..
Rice Ladoo
Ingredients
- 1 cups small grained aromatic rice
- 3/4th to 1 cup jaggery powder ( use as required)
- ghee as required
- pinch of nutmeg powder
- pinch of chai spice
Instructions
Wash and drain the rice very well.
Take a clean and dry kitchen towel, place it over a sieve or wicker basket.
Spread the drained rice over the kitchen towel.
Allow the rice to dry up completely. It takes 4-5 hours at room temperature in hot and dry conditions.
After they dry , take a heavy bottom Kadai and roast the rice on very slow flame until they turn little golden and emit a beautiful aroma. Allow the rice to cool and come to room temperature.
Once the rice is cool, using a chutney jar of Indian style mixer grinder, grind the rice to a fine powder.
The texture of the powder will be like fine sooji/semolina and not like all purpose flour/maida.
Sieve the ground rice for an even texture. ( I used the sieve that was one size bigger than the atta sieve to do the job).
Similarly, sieve the jaggery powder through the same sieve for an even texture.
Melt at least 3/4 cup of ghee and keep aside. Allow it to come to room temperature.
Add the nutmeg. Mix well.
Once the ghee has reached room temperature, add little at a time to the rice-jaggery mix and begin to bind the mix in small lime sized ladoos. To bind the ladoo, press the lime sized portion well into your fist. Once the shape comes together bounce it in the cup our your hands to smoothen the surface and round it up well.
Half way through you may add pinch of chai spice to the ladoos (if you wish to).
Keep adding ghee and forming the ladoos to finish the entire mixture.
Store in airtight container.
Keeps well for a week.
Notes
I used less jaggery because I do not like overtly sweet foods. The amount of ghee required for this recipe will depend on how much of it is absorbed by the rice and jaggery mixture. Be careful not to add all the ghee at one go. Sieving the mix is important as it gives an even look to the ladoos. The addition of nutmeg and chai spice made a pleasant difference.
2 Comments
Manjusha
March 7, 2020 at 9:57 pmThe rice doesn’t need to be cooked at all? I am unable to imagine the taste of this ladoo.
We make rice ladoos by washing and drying the rice and then roasting it in an iron kadai until it turns red and starts to crack..then grind it coarse in a mixer and bind it along with jaggery.
Sheetal
March 8, 2020 at 10:13 amHello Manjusha,
Thank you for writing in. In my hurry to post the recipe forgot to write the roasting step. I have edit the recipe. Yes the rice was washed and roasted until it released pleasant aroma. Not allowed to brown but take a beautiful golden hue.