Churma na Ladoo - Pallika

This is one of my most favorite recipes..ever..It is a little bit of work..but it's worth it. I remember my mom packing a big container whenever we went on a trip..where she wasn't sure about finding decent food for me. All I needed was a couple of these ladoo's and milk, and I was good. The proportions are not exact, but I'll try to describe them as best as I can.

Take Ladoo no Lot (Coarse Wheat flour) in a bowl. Add enough ghee to make "Muthi padtu mon" (This means that as you rub the ghee in the flour, try to hold it in your fist. If the flour holds it's shape somewhat, that's enough ghee). Now add enough Milk to make a very soft dough, cover, and leave aside (The coarse wheat flour will absorb a lot of milk, so make sure there's extra). After the dough has rested for half an hour or so, knead it gently, and make fist-sized muthias. Make sure they are flat, with indentations made with your fingers. This will ensure even cooking. In a kadai, heat ghee and start frying the muthias on a low-medium flame. You can overlap the muthias slightly on top of each other. This would steam them and make sure they get cooked. We really want to make sure they are not raw in the middle, but not completely crisp either. Once you get a nice golden brown color, drain from the ghee and immidiately break into small pieces. Let cool slightly, and before it cools completely, run it through a blender or a food processor. Now, take a big Parat (Kathrot, or a big thaali), and sieve the ground muthia, or "churmu" through a very coarse sieve (Usually a stainless steel one with big holes works the best). Repeat with other batches of the muthias till all the churmu is ready. Now, drain out the ghee from the kadai, and dry roast sesame seeds (as per taste). Transfer the toasted sesame seeds to the Big Plate with the churmu. You may also add khus khus, and grated dry coconut, in a similar way. Grind some ilaichi seeds into powder and add to the churmu. Add freshly grated nutmeg and mix everything well. Now, heat a small amount of ghee in the kadai. Add Gud (roughly half the amount, by volume, of the total churmu). And heat it gently. You may also add a spoon or two of water at this stage. As soon as the Gud is melted, Add the Churmu to the melted Gud, mix everything thoroughly, and cover (so as not to lose heat). Now transfer small batch of this mixture back to the Thaali, and start making Ladoos (you may cover these with khus khus, if you like..I don't think my mom did that). Doing it in batches will make sure that all the mixture does not cool down at the same time, hence giving you time to form the ladoos. In case it cools down, you can gently heat the kadai again. Transfer the laddos to an airtight container only after they have completely cooled down and set. Enjoy!!