Gond Ke Laddu - Sweet balls made with wheat flour and Edible Gum

Gond ke Laddu is a traditional Rajasthani Dessert. "Gond" is the edible gum that is fried in ghee, puffed up and added to roasted wheat flour to make Laddus. This edible gum is available in the Indian Stores as Khatira. It is in crystal form in pearly yellowish translucent pieces of different sizes. Usually this edible gum generates heat and this Laddu is usually consumed in the winter months. And this laddu should not be consumed by pregnant women.

I made this laddu as a part of the Rajasthani Thali I posted yesterday. 

Recipe Source: Desi Fiesta

What are the ingredients needed?

Wheat flour/ Atta, 1 1/4 cup

Edible Gum/Gond/Khatira, 3 Tablespoons

Powdered Sugar, 1/2 cup

Cardamom Powder, 1/2 teaspoon

Ghee, 1/2 cup (1/4 cup for frying ghond and 1/4 cup for roasting wheat flour)

How it is made?

1. Heat ghee in a pan, add edible gum and fry till it is puffed up. Remove it from the pan and then drain excess ghee and roughly break them to pieces with a rolling pin and set them aside.
2. In the same pan, heat the remaining ghee and add the wheat flour and roast it, stirring continuously till the flour starts to change its color. Turn off the heat. Let it cool lightly so that it is comfortable to handle. 
3. To this roasted flour, add the crushed edible gum, powdered sugar, cardamom powder, mix well. 
4. Take this mixture and shape them into laddus. If you find it difficult to shape laddus then you can add some melted ghee and then shape them.
5. It yields about 12- 15 laddus depending on the size of the laddus.

Note:

• You can add some roasted chopped nuts to this laddu too.