Moong Dal Laddu

When it comes to ladoo, this Moong Dal Laddu is a personal favorite. More so, because it is one of those delicious sweet offerings that I can make during Krishna Janmashtami as well. It’s not difficult, requires minimal ingredients and gets done within minutes. Moong Dal Ladoo is obviously made with husked, split moong lentils along with ghee, sugar and some flavoring with green cardamoms. These ladoo are quite addictive too, try ‘em to know.

About Moong Dal Laddu

Moong Dal Laddu is a classic, traditional sweet from the Andhra cuisine and also called Pesara Sunnundalu in Telugu language. These are protein rich sweet balls made with mung lentils flour, ghee, nuts and sweetened with sugar or jaggery.

The recipe of this Moong Dal Ladoo is similar to that of the Urad Dal Laddu which is again a special and unique sweet from Andhra. Though, the ladoo made with urad dal taste different, the flavor of the ones made with moong dal taste like another all-time favorite Besan Ladoo.

So, if you are a regular in making ladoo with besan for your festive occasions, then for a change, try the Moong Dal Laddu this time. I’m sure you, along with everyone you’ll serve it to, is going to love it. It will become a preferred one at your place, soon.

One very important thing that I want to bring to your notice is that it is important to roast the lentils or dals well, while making any lentil based ladoo.

Same is for this Moong Dal Ladoo as well. So, it is apt to use a thick bottomed pan or wok or kadai, so that the dal roasts evenly and as desired.

As I mentioned earlier, the Moong Dal Laddu is also great as a prasad or naivedyam offering to the deities. Other than this, it’s a perfect sweet snack, which is quite nutritious too and can be packed in tiffin boxes.

You can make about 9 to 10 ladoo with this recipe of mine, which can be double for making more number of ladoo. After preparing, I usually keep these ladoo at room temperature for a few days.

You can pack in airtight jars and refrigerate too. Although storing in the refrigerator turns the ladoo denser as the ghee solidifies.  

How to make Moong Dal Laddu

Make Moong Dal Flour

1. Heat a thick bottomed pan or kadai or work on a low flame. Then, add 1 cup moong dal (husked and split mung lentils) in it.

If you want you can rinse the moong dal first. Spread the lentils on a plate/tray/cloth. Dry the lentils naturally or in sunlight. Once the lentils have dried, then add them in the kadai. If you want, you can add directly too.

2. Keep the heat to low or sim and begin to roast the moong dal.

3. Continue to stir often while roasting.

4. Keep on roasting and stirring for even browning and cooking.

5. The dal needs to be golden and become fragrant. Keep on stirring without a break once the lentils begun to get light golden.

Also as I have mentioned before, use a thick bottomed pan or kadai. If the pan or kadai is not heavy or has a heavy base, then the moong dal will get browned too fast with uneven cooking and roasting.

6. This is the moong dal after 11 minutes of roasting.

7. Remove the roasted lentils in a plate and let them cool.

8. Once the lentils have become warm or cooled down, add them in a grinder jar.

9. Grind to a fine flour.

10. Now, take the moong dal flour in a fine sieve.

11. Begin to sift the flour on a plate, tray, large bowl or pan. Here are some of the moong dal grits remaining.

You can add these to rice, upma, dal or even veggies while cooking. Do use a fine sieve, otherwise you will get a gritty and grainy texture in the ladoo.

12. Keep the sifted moong dal flour aside.

13. In the same grinder, add ⅓ cup sugar and cardamom seeds from 2 to 3 green cardamom pods.

14. Grind sugar to a fine powder.

Make Ladoo Mixture

15. Add the powdered sugar to the moong dal flour. If you want, you can even sift the sugar and then add.

16. Mix very well.

17. Now, melt ¼ cup ghee in a pan. You just need to melt the ghee and not heat it.

If adding dry fruits or nuts like raisins, almonds or cashews – you can add some sliced or chopped dry fruits at this step and sauté till they become light golden.

18. Add the melted ghee to moong dal flour-sugar mixture.

19. Mix very well with a spatula or spoon.

20. Let this mixture become warm or cool down.

21. Then, mix again very well with your hands.

22. You can see here a dough being formed, when the mixture is getting mixed.

Make Moong Dal Laddu

23. Then, start taking portions of the mixture and shaping to a neat round ball. If you are not able to make the ladoo, then allow the mixture to cool for some more time at room temperature.

The ladoo should be smooth. If the mixture looks dry or the laddu has cracks, then add 1 to 2 tablespoons more ghee. Mix again and begin to make balls.

24. Prepare more ladoo like this with the rest of the mixture.

25. You can offer Moong Dal Laddu to the deities as naivedyam or serve to your family. Store the remaining ladoo in an air tight box or jar and keep at room temperature or refrigerate.

More With Moong Dal

If you though that moong dal was only capable of giving you more dishes in the salty or savory category, then you’re quite wrong. For instance, take a look at this Moong Dal Ladoo itself. It is a sweet, and a really amazing one.

Just like this ladoo, here are some more sweet dishes where the hero ingredient is our humble moong dal. You really can’t miss trying on each of these.

• Moong Dal Halwa – This is one of the quintessential, rich halwa from North India. Yes, it is heavy and sinful because of the quantity of ghee and sugar that goes in its preparation. But after all, what’s life without a bit of a binge at times. Plus, that then automatically becomes the motivation for you to exercise or run a few extra miles!
• Pasi Paruppu Payasam – Talk of moong dal or any other dal for that matter, and you can’t really go ahead without mentioning their use in making luscious South Indian desserts. This creamy and decadent moong dal payasam is just that. It is vegan and quite hearty as well because it mainly uses moong lentils, coconut milk and jaggery.
• Sweet Pongal – Come Pongal, the harvest festival in South India; come Pongal, its namesake dish. This recipe is a sweet version, which is basically a porridge of rice and moong lentils, flavored with cardamom and dry fruits. This variation is also called the Sakkarai or Chakkara Pongal whereas the savory one is known as Venn Pongal.

Expert Tips

1. Before beginning to roast the moong lentils, you can rinse it as well, just to be sure that it is free of any stones or other particles. After rinsing, spread the moong dal on a tray and let it dry naturally or in sunlight before adding to the pan.
2. Always use a heavy bottomed kadai or pan to roast the dal. If it is not so, then the lentils with brown quickly with uneven cooking/roasting. Half roasted moong dal can give stomach aches.
3. After sifting the ground moong dal, there may be some grits remaining in the sieve. Use these in your dal, rice, upma or veggies while cooking. Makes them more nutritious.
4. If you are adding chopped nuts or dry fruits in these ladoo, fry them in the ghee till light golden. Remove and keep aside. This is before adding the moong dal-sugar mixture to the ghee.

More Ladoo Variants To Try!

Ladoo Recipes

Atta Laddu | Wheat Ladoo

Ladoo Recipes

Boondi Laddu | Boondi ke Ladoo

Ladoo Recipes

Til Ke Laddu | Sesame Laddu

Ladoo Recipes

Peanut Laddu (Shengdana Ladoo)

Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.

This Moong Dal Laddu recipe post from the blog archives first published in August 2016 has been republished and updated on 30th July 2022.