Churmundo or wheat flour laddus from Konkani cuisine are melt-in-the mouth laddus made with just 6 ingredients. These are the atte ka laddoo with sugar. They are easy to prepare by roasting whole wheat flour in ghee or clarified butter. Imagine the aroma!! Whoa!
Pin-it here.
Food should not be complicated. Agree?
If prepared with lot of love and dedication, you can turn the simplest of the ingredients into a work of art. It does not take a truckload of stuff to create the explosion of flavor.
Take this wheat flour laddu for example (this is called Churmundo in Konkani), with just a few ingredients, you create a lovely sweet.
The aroma of the wheat flour roasted in ghee is exquisite. The crunch from the cashew nuts adds a beautiful texture.
The sweetness from the sugar is delicate and not overpowering.
As usual, the recipes on the blog go through many iterations. When the recipe (my aunt gave me the recipe) for Churmundo went through that iteration process, at one point I had about 30-40 laddus at home for us to munch on. And that is where friends come to the rescue - I shared a few laddus with my friends..
One of my friends loved it so much that she asked me to make it for the Navratri pooja at her house and I ended up making another 60 to share with her. I was thrilled to make more of these beauties.
Churmundo Recipe
Just a quick note about the recipe. When I say whole wheat flour in the recipe, I mean the wheat flour that you get in Indian grocery stores. I have not made this with the whole wheat flour sourced from US grocery stores.
The key to the perfect churmundo is the roasting of wheat flour to perfection. If the flour is not roasted well, the laddus just stick to your upper palette, which I assure you is not a pleasant experience to deal with. So, make sure you are indeed roasting the wheat flour for about 35-45 minutes. Though this looks like an unusually long time to roast the flour, it is done at a very low temperature and it also ensures that the flour is cooked properly.
The cashew nuts and raisins add a crunch and a different texture to the otherwise plain wheat flour laddu, making it luxurious.
Making the laddus takes a little practice. Be patient.
To style and photograph Churmundo, I gathered inspiration from Pinterest images. Check out my board for inspiration.
Churmundo
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup ghee clarified butter
- 2 tablespoon cashew nuts; broken into smaller bits
- 2 tablespoon raisins
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
Instructions
- Heat ghee in a thick-bottomed skillet over medium heat.
- Roast the cashew nuts and raisins (separately) for a couple of minutes and remove from heat. Keep them aside.
- Add the whole wheat flour to the same saucepan and roast the flour for about 35-45 minutes on medium-low/low heat. When you add the flour, it will soak up the ghee and resemble "wet flour". Once you roast the flour for about 35-45 minutes, the flour will be aromatic and will come together.
- Remove from heat and let it cool down for some time.
- Add the sugar while the ghee-flour mix is still warm to touch. Mix well with hands till well combined and resembles soft bread crumbs.
- Add the cardamom powder, raisins, and cashew nuts and mix.
- Using a tablespoon, measure out a portion of the mixture into your palm and make laddus (by pressing the mixture tightly in your palm, turning them slowly while shaping them into small balls as you do so.). Place the laddu on a serving platter or a tray.
- Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
- Set the laddus aside on the tray to cool, as they will be delicate when warm.
- Save in an airtight container.
Notes
It is pretty windy in my part of the world today. The trees are shedding leaves and it just feels like nature is celebrating too and showering us with yellow & red confetti. We will back in a few days with our Diwali special.
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Sandhya says
I made this past diwali. came out good, though I did have to add a couple more tbsp of ghee to hold the laddu together while rolling.
Framed Recipes says
Thank you Sandhya. I have added your feed back in the instructions.
Aruna says
Laddus like these are so easy to make as Indian homes have these ingredients on hand all the time. 🙂 We make rice flour laddus like these in Andhra.
Dolphia Nandi says
The photos are pretty!! Preparing for Diwali is so much fun and therapeutic, isn't?
Dolphia Nandi says
This is what I love about Diwali - Preparing sweets, lighting Diya!!! It's so therapeutic, isn't?
Prathish says
Yumm yumm food and lovely mood shots... can't ask for anything more for an awesome recipe site. BIG FAN of yours ?
Framed Recipes says
Thank you so much Prathish
Huma says
Looks great. We make ladva but the process is different compared to yours. But love it . Your house must be full of nutty aromas.
Framed Recipes says
Thank you Huma. I would love to learn your method too.
[email protected] Big Sweet Tooth says
They look so delicious... and healthy too! Thanks for all the tips... will pin this up...
Framed Recipes says
Thank you so much Rafee
Janani Rakesh Kumar says
The ladoos look soo good sreelatha! yum yum ! love it! beautiful clicks!:-)
Framed Recipes says
Thanks much Janani