Indian mithai must be its cuisine, don't you agree? Mango mawa ladoos are a delicious melt-in-mouth Indian mithai, that is creamy, nutty, and gorgeous. The beautiful golden color on them makes them perfect for celebrations and these will become your favorite.
Halwai and Mithai shops were our Candyland. The beautiful colors, delicious seasonal flavors, and just the beautiful arrangements of the sweetmeats were enough to fascinate me. These mango mawa ladoos are melt-in-mouth delicious. They are easy to make with a few tips, and they add so much brightness to your festive table.
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What are Ladoos?
When I think about ladoos, I think about indulgent, melt-in-mouth beautifully delicious truffles. You can make them healthy too. Ladoos are typically made with different flours, nuts, grains, fruits, and vegetables. Some of the flavors that remain constant in the ladoos are sugar, cardamom, saffron, and rose water.
Try my makhana ladoos recipe. They are healthy delicious, and guilt-free too, which packs good protein.
About The Recipe
These mango ladoos are very easy to make with few ingredients. I use ghee, almond flour, mango pulp, powdered sugar, khoya, cardamom powder, and saffron strands to make this recipe. All these ingredients are easily available at your nearest Indian store. If you can't find khoya, you can also use full-fat milk powder to get the mawa taste in this mango ladoos.
I made these ladoos for a potluck during Diwali, so I used the canned Alphonso mango pulp. I noticed that using canned mango pulp increased the shelf life of these ladoos. These are so good to make for pooja at home or bring to your friend's house. And who doesn't like mangoes right?
Ingredients to Make the Mango Ladoos
A few basic ingredients are used to make this recipe, which will be available at the nearest Indian grocery store. I have also mentioned substitutions alongside the ingredients, and links to what to buy for the recipe.
Ghee - You must always use melted ghee to make Indian mithai, to make sure that the measurement of ghee in the recipe is accurate.
Almond Flour - Almond flour is not popularly used in the Indian mithai to make the ladoos. However, adding almond flour as a form of protein helps to break the sugars slowly when you consume sweets. Although these ladoos by no means are healthy, they are pure indulgence, adding almond flour is a great base to use for the sweets.
Mango Pulp - You can add fresh or canned mango pulp as per your choice. Although, since we are not using any food coloring for the recipe, you may want to use Alphonso mango pulp, as it is naturally bright orange, and deliciously sweet.
Powdered Sugar - I prefer to add powdered sugar, but you can use castor sugar for this recipe.
Mawa - Mawa is solidified milk, made with slow cooking the milk, and which thickens the milk. You can use store-bought or homemade mawa in this recipe. I buy it from the refrigerator section of the Indian store.
Spices - I like to use cardamom powder and saffron strands to season these mango ladoos, to add a depth of flavor to the ladoos.
Garnishes - Garnish the ladoos with saffron strands, pistachio powder, and/or silver or golden edible leaf. They look beautiful.
Step - by - Step
1. In a heavy-bottomed non-stick pot, add melted ghee. Wait until the ghee is hot.
2. To this add almond flour and roast the almond flour for 2 minutes, until it smells nutty and aromatic.
3. Once the almond flour is aromatic, add mango pulp and powdered sugar. Cook this until the almond flour absorbs all the moisture. This will take anywhere between 2-3 minutes.
4. It should thicken and look like in the picture above. Now add the shredded mawa.
5. Cook the mawa, stirring continuously until the mawa is cooked, and you can no longer see the white specs of the mawa anymore.
6. You will notice that it can roll over itself, and it gets clumped against the spoon. Once you achieve this, transfer the mix, to a mixing bowl and let it cool down.
7. Once the mix is cool enough to handle, start making the ladoos.
Tips to Make Perfect Ladoos
- Use melted ghee as mentioned in the recipe card below. You don't need a lot of ghee for these ladoos. Perfect ladoos can hold their shape even at room temperature.
- Make sure you always cook the ladoos at low temperature.
- I like to use powdered sugar for easy and quick mixing, but you can also use castor sugar.
- To make sure you maintain the beautiful golden shiny color for these ladoos, make sure you roast the almond flour just until it is nutty. If the almond flour changes its color, the color of the ladoos will change too.
- If you are making mango pulp at home, Alphonso or Ataulfo mangoes will yield the best taste and color to these ladoos. Don't add any water or milk, while pureeing the mango pulp. The pulp is best to use when thick.
- The mixture will start to leave its sides and clump around the spoon, when it is cooked. You will notice that the ladoo mixture is able to roll over itself when you mix.
- Don't overcook the mixture. If you overcook the mixture, mango ladoos will turn out to be sticky and hard. You want beautiful melt-in-mouth ladoos.
- The fats from mawa compensate for the relatively lesser ghee used in this recipe.
More Recipes From The Blog
Mango Mawa Ladoos
Equipment
- 1 Non-Stick Pan
Ingredients
- 5 Tablespoon Ghee Melted
- ¾ Cup Almond Flour
- ¾ Cup Mango Pulp
- ⅓ Cup Powdered Sugar
- 340 Grams Mawa
- 1 Teaspoon Cardamom Powder
- 10-12 Saffron Strands
- 2 Tablespoon Pistachio Powder
Instructions
- Prep the Mawa. Make sure the mawa is at room temperature. You can either shred the block of mawa using a boxed grater, or crumble it with your hands. Keep it aside.
- Now on low heat, add melted ghee to the pot.
- Next, add the almond flour, and start roasting the almond flour. Roast it for 2 minutes.
- Now add the mango puree and powdered sugar. Cook it for a minute, and you will see the almond flour has absorbed all the moisture, and it starts to look like a halwa, soft but not runny.
- Next add in the shredded mawa. Add cardamom powder, and saffron strands. With a silicone spatula start to mix it until you see the white melt and disappear.
- This should take about 5-8 minutes on a low flame. Cook until you can fold it over itself using the spatula. Another test you can do it use a spoon to mix and see if it clumps up around the spoon.
- Once you feel it clumps over the spoon, and folds over itself, turn off the flame.
- Transfer the ladoo mix, to a mixing bowl. Let it cool down until its cool to touch or even place it in the refrigerator to roll the ladoos later.
- You can use ghee to rub between your palms if needed to roll the ladoos. Use equal portions of the mixture, and roll the ladoos.
- You can make them as big or small you like. I like to use a cookie scoop to make the ladoos, to make sure they are equally sized.
- You can refrigerate the ladoos for up to a week. Take them out 30 minutes before serving, and they are melt in mouth delicious.
Kalpana
Our Indian store has dry, powdered Mawa. Woul d this work just as well as the solid Mawa you used?
Can the ladoos be frozen?
Aayushi Patel
Hi Kalpana,
Please use 340 gms of dry mawa (milk powder) along with 4 Tbsp's of milk. I have never tried freezing the ladoos, but I am sure they will freeze and thaw well. I wouldn't freeze them for more than 3 months.