Coconut Laddu Recipe / Kobbari undalu

Coconut Jaggery Ladoos Recipe / Kobbari undalu / How to make coconut laddu

Today´s recipe is yet another sweet snack that is my all time favourite since my childhood. It is coconut jaggery laddoos - kobbari bellam laddu. When I was a child, my mom used to make these kobbari undalu in bunches and store them for us as an after-school snack. I literally used to drool over them😛. When we grew up and left homes for further education, somehow, we forgot about them. Even after marriage, the coconut jaggery ladoos just skipped from my mind.

One fine day, when I was browsing through my old photos of my childhood days, I recollected all the snacks that my mom used to prepare for us. She used to prepare tapioca chips ,  sweet kova, Poornam Boorelu etc.,.  The coconut jaggery laddus topped the list. I was quite crazy for them and the mere thought itself waters my mouth. They were chewy, juicy and all of the above, tasty. They are also very healthy. They have all the goodness of coconut. They are rich in fibre and essential vitamins and minerals. They help in converting the bad cholesterols into good and healthy cholesterols and in turn promoting a healthy heart. We are using jaggery ( bellam )instead of sugar which again is very healthy. 

The best thing that I like about these coconut jaggery ladoos is that they are very easy to prepare with just three ingredients. The only difficult part is grating the coconuts. I manually grate the coconuts with the help of a traditional grater. The rest of the preparation is easy peasy.

Preparation

Grate the coconut and keep aside. You can grate it with the help of a food processor as well. I grated the coconut with a traditional grater as shown in the picture below. You can also make coconut pieces and put it in the blender to make a paste. But to get the perfect texture its always advisable to grate the coconut manually. Grate the jaggery.

If you are using normal jaggery, then add little water to the powdered jaggery and put it on the stove. Cook until the jaggery melts completely. Switch off the flame and filter the impurities. Since I used organic jaggery, I did not have need to filter as they do not have any impurities. Mix the grated coconut to the jaggery and mix well.

Put this mixture on the flame as low as possible and cook slowly. Keep stirring occasionally to avoid sticking at the bottom of the pan.

Cook until you are able to form ladoos out of the dough. To check if the dough is ready, take a small portion of the coconut dough on a plate.

Allow it to cool a little bit and try to form a ball. If you are successful in making a ball, then switch off the flame.

If you are not able to form a ball, then cook for some more time. Add cardamom power while it is still hot and mix well.

Cool the mixture to an extent such that you are able to hold the mixture in your hands. Give shape to the coconut-jaggery mixture. You can give any shape as you prefer. You can shape it as laddoo or peda or any other shape.  I shaped them like laddoos with a cashew in the center. The other shape was like that of an apple with a cashew acting as the stem. Once they cool completely, you can store them in air-tight containers. They stay good for upto 15 days. These coconut jaggery ladoos will be great for short breaks and as after-school snacks.

Ingredients

Coconuts 2 ( OR ) 3 cups grated coconut

Jaggery 2 cups

Cardamom Powder 1/2 tsp ( OR ) powder of 8 cardamom ( elaichi ) pods

Method

1. Grate the coconut manually and keep aside.
2. Grate the jaggery.
3. If you think there are impurities in jaggery, then add little water in jaggery and put it on flame. Cook on a low flame until the jaggery melts. Once it melts, switch off the flame and filter through a strainer for impurities.
4. Mix the jaggery and the grated coconut and mix well.
5. Put it on a flame as low as possible and cook.
6. Cook until you are able to form a ball or a ladoo.
7. Take a small portion of the coconut mixture and try to make a ball. If you are able to make a ball then switch off the flame and add cardamom powder. Mix well.
8. If you are not able to make a ball then Goto Step 6.
9. Allow this mixture to cool a little and then get ready to give shapes. 
10. Store them in air-tight container and enjoy with your loved ones. 
11. Coconut jaggery ladoos stay good for up to 15 days.

Notes

• You can feel free to add any nuts or dry fruits to make them rich and more nutritious.
• You need not add any ghee or oil because coconut itself contains oil. That oil is sufficient for cooking and while making shapes. Even if you do not apply any ghee or oil, you will get a perfect shape. But if you wish you can grease your hands with a little ghee to get a nice flavor ( kammadanam ) on the ladoo.
• My laddoos were soft because I did not cook them for long after I was able to give shape. If you want a little harder ladoo, then cook for another 5 minutes after you are able to form a ladoo. Hope you are able to understand. If you have any doubts, please leave them in the comments section. I will be more than happy to guide you accordingly.