Mom is undoubtedly the dessert specialist at home. God forbid, if she takes to blogging, she could give a lot of folks a run for their money and have me running out of ideas which I generously borrow from her. At times it seems to me that she manages to concoct sweets out of thin air. And since she is hale and hearty (touch wood), she is least bothered with controlling her sugar intake and other such low priority things like counting calories and weight management that are always on top of my list. "For the current generation, everything is just about numbers ", she exclaims while dismissing my worries.
Anyways when she told me about these green papaya laddoos, I could not resist pulling her leg. "Mummy, why can't you go for cheaper options like besan and suji ? Veggies have become so costly these days !! If I start using them in desserts, what will I cook for the main course ?", I told her in jest. And pat comes the reply "But they taste so good. Why cook sabzi ? Have them with parathas or puris". Another oil/calorie guzzler is the last thing on earth that I would want to rendezvous with. So, I decided to keep my mouth shut and think of ways in which I could replicate the same but without copious amount of sugar. Will the laddoos bind correctly if I skip the sugar? I decided to increase the milk content and replace the sugar with Sugarfree Nature pellets which I always keep at hand as my MIL is a diabetic.
The recipe turned out to be just fine and the laddoos tasted delicious. Read on for this yummy recipe that will have you eating your laddoos without actually turning into one ( excuse the bad PJ ) -
Preparation Time - 45 mins
Ingredients -
Preparation - Peel and grate the green papaya.
Soak the saffron in 2-3 tsp warm milk.
Cooking - Heat the ghee in a thick bottomed wok. Add the cashews and fry till they turn golden. remove from the wok and keep aside.
Add the grated papaya and fry for 8-9 mins on medium flame or till the moisture is almost gone.
Add the milk along with the sugarfree pellets. Rub the soaked saffron strands with your fingers and add it to the same wok. Cook on medium to low flame till all the moisture evaporates and the mixture starts to leaves the sides of the wok.
Add the cardamom powder and mix in.
Allow it to cool down till it is bearable to touch.
Divide into 10-12 portions. Rub ghee on palms and shape each one portion into a laddoo. Press one cashew into each one.
Allow to cool down completely before serving.
Anyways when she told me about these green papaya laddoos, I could not resist pulling her leg. "Mummy, why can't you go for cheaper options like besan and suji ? Veggies have become so costly these days !! If I start using them in desserts, what will I cook for the main course ?", I told her in jest. And pat comes the reply "But they taste so good. Why cook sabzi ? Have them with parathas or puris". Another oil/calorie guzzler is the last thing on earth that I would want to rendezvous with. So, I decided to keep my mouth shut and think of ways in which I could replicate the same but without copious amount of sugar. Will the laddoos bind correctly if I skip the sugar? I decided to increase the milk content and replace the sugar with Sugarfree Nature pellets which I always keep at hand as my MIL is a diabetic.
The recipe turned out to be just fine and the laddoos tasted delicious. Read on for this yummy recipe that will have you eating your laddoos without actually turning into one ( excuse the bad PJ ) -
Preparation Time - 45 mins
Ingredients -
- 1/2 kg green papaya
- 2 cups milk
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 15-16 sugarfree pellets
- 2 pinch saffron
- 2 pinch powdered cardamom
- 10 cashews
Preparation - Peel and grate the green papaya.
Soak the saffron in 2-3 tsp warm milk.
Cooking - Heat the ghee in a thick bottomed wok. Add the cashews and fry till they turn golden. remove from the wok and keep aside.
Add the grated papaya and fry for 8-9 mins on medium flame or till the moisture is almost gone.
Add the milk along with the sugarfree pellets. Rub the soaked saffron strands with your fingers and add it to the same wok. Cook on medium to low flame till all the moisture evaporates and the mixture starts to leaves the sides of the wok.
Add the cardamom powder and mix in.
Allow it to cool down till it is bearable to touch.
Divide into 10-12 portions. Rub ghee on palms and shape each one portion into a laddoo. Press one cashew into each one.
Allow to cool down completely before serving.