Gond ke laddu are a rich, delicious and wholesome sweet treat enjoyed during the winters in North India. Gond is a kind of plant derived edible gum that has been enjoyed in traditional Indian foods as it is believed to have medicinal values. Whole wheat flour, almonds, cashews, desi ghee are the other key ingredients used to make these energy balls.
Gond ladoo are most often given to women recovering from childbirth. However gond ke ladoo are good for people of all age groups including kids and toddlers. Gond laddu are rich in iron, protein and calcium.
Regular consumption of gond ke laddu for several weeks is said to rejuvenate the entire body by strengthening the bones, improving immunity and digestion.
Gond ke laddu provide heat to the body due to the addition of wheat flour (atta), gond and nuts. So these can prevent seasonal cold not only in kids but also in grown ups.
There are many variations you can make to these ladoos by adding poppy seeds (khus khus), dates, dried dates, sesame, makhana etc.
In this post I have used only the ingredients that are basic and can be eaten by women after childbirth.
What is gond?
Gond is the hindi term for edible gum. The 2 most common edible gums used in Asian foods are Acacia gum or gum Arabic & tragacanth gum.
- Acacia gum or gum Arabic is the first type of edible gum which is the dried sap of the acacia tree. Kikar is the hindi name to this tree and is widely known as Babul tree in India. Gond that is used to make gond ke laddu is the dried sap of babul tree. Acaia gum or gum Arabic keeps the body warm so it is widely used during winters & is avoided during summers as it is heaty in nature.
- The second type of edible gum is Tragacanth gum. It is known as gond katira or badam pisin in Indian language. It is tasteless & swells up when added to water and turns soft like jelly. So it is used to thicken, stabilize & emulsify foods. It is also added to beverages like jigarthanda and even to shakes & smoothies. Tragacanth gum is extremely cooling in nature & is considered to be beneficial to use during summers.
More Ladoo recipes
Badam ladoo
Ragi ladoo
Coconut ladoo
Rava laddu
Dry fruits ladoo
Preparation for gond ke laddu
1. Heat 1 tbsp ghee.
2. Fry chopped almonds and cashews until lightly golden. You can also fry the whole nuts, cool and coarsely crush in blender.
3. Add dried coconut and fry lightly. You can add more or skip this. Dried coconut is a rich source of calcium. Do not use fresh coconut as it reduces the shelf life.
4. Saute just for a minute.
5. Remove all of these to a plate. If you are using khus khus add them now and fry until they turn golden & crunchy.
How to fry gond
6. Add gond to a plate and clean up if it is not clean. You may find tiny pieces of the bark or stones stuck to the gond, just discard them.
7. Pour ¼ cup ghee to fry the gond. It will puff well if a good amount of ghee is used and fried well on a medium high flame. Unpuffed gond can cause stomach problems and sticks up to the tooth while eating.
8. When the ghee turns hot, check if it is hot enough by adding 1 small piece of it. It has to puff well. Then add the gond to it. Do not use a nonstick pan as it will scratch up. The gond must be fully immersed in ghee otherwise they will not puff. Frying in very hot ghee can make it bitter.
9. Keep stirring and fry until all of it has puffed well. All of the ghee will be absorbed by the gond.
10. Remove it to a plate. Gond will absorb all of the ghee. Crush it well with the base of a cup or just pulse it in a mixer.
Frying atta
11. If you think your gond is not very clean, then clean up the pan with a tissue. You may find some unclean particles in the pan. Pour 3 tbps more ghee and heat up. Add atta or wheat flour.
12. Saute on a medium to low flame until it turns deep golden and aromatic. The atta should not have any raw taste in it.
13. Turn off the stove. You can add crushed gond or pulse it in a mixer. I went ahead pulsing it with some nuts as my kids don’t like the crushed one.
Making gond ke laddu
14. Remove it from the stove. Add the nuts, cardamom powder and gond. Mix everything well.
15. Add powdered jaggery or powdered sugar. If using grated jaggery, make sure you grate it fine.
16. Mix well to incorporate the ghee in the gond with the rest of the mixture.
17. Roll to balls when the mixture is slightly hot. If needed pour some hot ghee if you have a trouble binding them. I did not use any extra.
Store gond ke laddu in a air tight jar and use up to a month.
Health benefits of gond or edible gum
- Gond has about 50% calcium and 20% of magnesium in it. So regular consumption of gond helps to strengthen the bones, spine and teeth.
- Gond also helps in constipation and corrects minor digestive disorders.
- It is also believed that regular consumption of gond (for 3 to 4 weeks) helps in managing arthritis as it is anti-inflammatory.
- It is proven to be great for women with chronic back pain as it helps to strengthen and rejuvenate the backbone.
- Gond helps in lactation and improves the quality of breast milk.
- Lastly it helps the uterus to regain its strength and size after the childbirth.
Tips on using gond
- If you are a breastfeeding mother and has never eaten gond, then please consult your elders, gynac or an Ayurvedic expert.
- Do not confuse gond with gond katira, another kind of ebdible gum. Both are different. Gond is known as Dink in marathi and Antu in Kannada.
- Please buy gond from a reliable source. Uually Ayurvedic shops sell this in India and is also sold in grocery or super markets. In abroad it is sold only in Indian stores and is a seasonal product, not available through out the year.
Tips to make best gond ke laddu
- Always use desi ghee or good quality ghee that is homemade. Desi ghee imparts a great aroma to these gond ladoo.
- Ensure you use a good amount of ghee to fry the gond. There must be enough ghee in the pan such that gond is immersed completely in it. Otherwise it my not puff and cook well.
- Some kinds of gond absorb the entire ghee in the pan so do not add a lot or all at once. Add ghee in batches separately for frying gond and then add more ghee for roasting flour.
- The amount of ghee mentioned in the recipe card was good enough for me to make great tasting gond ke laddu. But the quantity can differ depending on the weather conditions, kind of gond and the flour. So use more if needed.
- Too much ghee in the mixture can flatten the ladoos and may hinder the mixture from binding.
- Too less ghee also may break the gond laddu so use your judgement.
These gond ladoo can also be made during festivals and are great to enjoy as a snack anytime.
Related Recipes
Gond ke laddu
Gond ke laddu
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- 1¼ cup wheat flour or atta
- ¾ to 1 cup jaggery powdered or gud (I used ¾) or powdered sugar
- ½ cup ghee (5 tbsps for gond + 3 tbsps for atta) more if needed)
- 1/3 cup gond about 65 grams or edible gum or antu
- 2 tbsp dried coconut or copra – optional
- ¼ cup almonds & cashews (chopped or pulsed in mixer)
- 1 tbsp chironji optional
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder or elaichi
Instructions
Preparation for gond ke laddu
- Clean gond well removing pieces of bark or stones if any. It is good to buy cleaned gond.
- Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Fry the almonds, cashews and chironji until slightly golden. Then add coconut and fry just for a minute. Remove and set aside.
How to fry gond
- Pour ¼ cup more ghee to the pan and heat it. The ghee has to be medium hot not very hot otherwise gond will turn bitter. Check if the ghee is hot by dropping 1 small piece of gond, it has to be rise and puff well.
- Fry gond on a medium heat stirring well. Soon the gond will puff and turn light. Remove this as well to a plate and coarsely crush this with a rolling pin. If you like it fine, blend it with few fried nuts. Keep this aside.
Roasting flour
- Next pour 3 tbsps more ghee and heat. Saute wheat flour in this stirring often until it turns aromatic and deep golden. Remove from the stove.
- Add the fried cashews, almonds and gond. Also add in cardamom powder. Mix all of these and let the temperature slightly come down but still hot.
- Then add in jaggery and mix well to incorporate the ghee in gond with the laddu mixture. If using sugar, powder it and use.
How to make gond ke laddu
- When the mixture is still hot, take small portions of this and roll to balls. If the mixture is too dry heat 1 to 2 tbsps ghee and pour it.
- Store gond ke laddu in air tight jar and use upto a month.
Notes
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Meena says
Hi Swasthi.
I want to make gond ladoos without atta or very little atta.Is it possible pls?
swasthi says
Hi Meena
You can check this Karnataka style antina unde. But it needs checking syrup consistency. If you go wrong with it they will turn either sticky or hard. The other option is to make these dry fruits ladoos with some fried gond added to them. You can substitute the dates and anjeer with jaggery. Hope this helps.
Farha says
Hi Swasthi,
Can we use whole wheat flour as wheat flour is mixed with wheat bran. Also can I use pista instead of cashew as I don’t have cashew in hand.
Also if I need to add phool mkhana and poppy seeds what will be the quantity.
Thanks in advance,
Farha
swasthi says
Hi Farha,
Yes you can use whole wheat flour. If it is for a nursing mother then I have no idea because more gluten. I think it should be avoided.
Yes pistas can be used. You can add 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds. With phool makhana you have to reduce the flour or increase the quantity of ghee. It needs more ghee as it is completely dry. 1/4 cup of makhana is fine. Roast, crush and add. If the mixture doesn’t bind well then just add more ghee. Hope this helps.
shubham says
HI Swasthi , one thing more i want to know apart from the receipe, that we can store the laddu in the airtight container into the fridge or just normally in the kitchen in the airtight container? Which one will last longer?? Plz suggest.
swasthi says
Hi Shubham
Store them in a air tight container at room temperature. Avoid humid places like kitchen. They are likely to spoil faster in the kitchen due to humidity. If making in large quantity store them in separate containers so they keep fresh longer. In the fridge they last longer but they become hard due to ghee.
Kanika says
Hi Swasthi. Thanks for this recipe. I wanted to ask can I include saunth / ginger powder in this recipe. My mom from India shared almost the same recipe but her includes black pepper powder and saunth.
Kindly let me know. I am making this for my after delivery which would be in few weeks. I am a first time mom.
Thanks
Kanika
swasthi says
Hi Kanika,
Congratulations! I would suggest not to add saunth to these ladoos. Sometimes the new mother and baby both don’t do well with saunth. I have heard a lot of new mothers ending up with constipation issues due to saunth as it is very dehydrating. Some times the same happens with the breastfed babies. The baby gets constipated due to the mom’s diet. These ladoos may go waste in case one wants to stop eating it or want to reduce the quantity. Instead you add saunth to your milk tea or mix with little ghee and have it after your meal. Depending on your body conditions you can use more or less. 3 to 4 grams of saunth is a moderate quantity which I consumed per day after childbirth. Same with black pepper, use it for your stir fry veggies. Hope this helps. Wishing you the best and stay blessed!!
Kanika says
Thank you so much Swasthi for taking out time and clearing out my queries. I am looking forward to trying this recipe with my husband this Saturday. Will let you know how the ladoos turned out.
Thanks a ton 🙂
Manjeet says
Very nice 👌
swasthi says
Thanks Manjeet
Kavita says
Your explaintion n presentation is the best way. God bless you.
swasthi says
Thanks Kavita
reena says
is Gond available online? please share the link
swasthi says
Yes it is available on amazon. You can check this link
amazon
Fathima says
Can we make this with almond gum ? Since its summer i wanted to try the cooler variant.please help me
swasthi says
Hi Fathima,
I haven’t tried with almond gum. I think almond gum should not be consumed without soaking. Not sure though! Instead skip the gond completely and use some poppy seeds.
Meena says
Hi Swasthi
Thank you very much. We processed roasted makhana with the rest in a food processor. Turned out beautiful and delicious.
swasthi says
Hi Meena,
You are welcome. Thanks for the comment. Glad you could fix it.
🙂
Meena says
My mother got gond from India. We tried to make laddu with your recipe. I made a mistake by adding all the ghee to fry the gond because you did not mention separately. Later i used another 4 spoons for frying the atta. Now I see my entire mixture is full of ghee and cannot bind. Please advice. Thank you 🙏
swasthi says
Hi Meena,
Sorry to ask – are you a nursing mother? How many months is it? To suggest any other ingredient in this ladoo I should know whether you can consume it or no.
Meena says
Yes my baby is 2 months old
swasthi says
Okay. Dry roast & powder some phool makhana or poha in a blender. Mix it with the ladoo mixture, it will absorb the excess ghee. You should be able to roll the balls. If not then run the entire mixture in a mixer jar. This should help you to fix.
Nitu says
When to add Khus Khus. Should we dry roast it separately before adding to the mixture.
swasthi says
Hi Nitu
Sorry I am late in replying. Yes dry roast the khus khus separately on a low flame until crunchy and add to the mixture
Mamatha says
How to make these Laddu without wheat flour? How much jaggery and ghee to reduce? Pls reply
swasthi says
Hi Mamatha
I am not sure how to adjust the jaggery and ghee. I have another recipe in drafts without using atta. I can share it in sometime.