Quinoa Ladoo / Quinoa Cookies

Quinoa is very popular these days. More people are consuming quinoa because its a very healthy seed. Yes, a seed and not a grain. I love quinoa and cook it often. Yesterday at Costco, I saw a book titled Quinoa giving you all sorts of recipes with Quinoa. Inspired by that book I wanted to make an Indian dessert. This morning, I wanted to try making ladoo's with quinoa. Making ladoo is simple if we know how to work with the ingredients. When it comes to quinoa, I was wondering if I need to roast the whole quinoa and then powder or do the opposite. I did both, and found for this recipe it is best to powder the quinoa and then roast it in ghee to get the nutty flavor of quinoa and do away with the bitter after taste. In fact, it was hard to tell that it was a quinoa ladoo. To me it tasted like a cross between rava (cream of wheat) and whole wheat ladoo. Super easy to make and gets done in minutes. 

Note: I recently, found out that ladoo's were considered a cookie. 

Gadgets:

Blender
Heavy Bottom Wok
Wooden Spatula
Plate
Measuring Cups and Spoons

Ingredients:

Makes 5 ladoo
Note: I was notified by my sister and fellow bloggers that quinoa as a seed needs to be soaked in water and then cleaned and dried before making into powder like we do with any other grain. So please do add that step into making of the flour. 

Quinoa Seeds - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cardamom Pods - 3
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Milk / Water - 1 tsp optional
Cashew Nuts - 6
Raisin - 2 tbsp
Saffron ( optional)- a few strings

Preparation:

1. Blend the quinoa to powder ( not too fine).

2. Heat the heavy bottom wok with 2 tbsp. Add cashew nuts and raisins and allow for the nuts to turn golden and raisins to plump up.

3. Add the quinoa powder and start roasting/ toasting it, until all the raw smell leaves the mix.

4. Add sugar and cardamom and mix well. Remove from heat allow to cool so that you can work with it.

5. Add the remaining ghee and water or milk and bring it all together into a ball. Volia the quinoa ladoo/ cookie is ready.