Aval Laddu | Poha Laddu

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If you’ve considered flattened/beaten/parched rice or poha to be only used in making savory or salty dishes, then this post of Poha Laddu is going to change that thought of yours. Also called as Aval Laddu in Malayalam and Tamil languages, this recipe is quick and easy, yet equally delicious. This Ladoo Recipe has thick poha, jaggery, ghee along with a few more ingredients and makes for a lovely after-meal dessert or a sweet snack during the day.

aval laddu served on a brass plate with some flowers on the side and text layover.

About Aval Laddu

Whenever you are working with poha, you’ll see that most of the dishes that you make with it quite simple and fuss-free. And so is this Poha Laddu as well.

In addition to the thick flattened rice, jaggery and ghee that goes in this recipe, you’ll just need some milk and green cardamom powder.

I have also added some cashews and raisins in this recipe of Aval Laddu. But you can skip adding these. Even without any nuts and dry fruits, these laddu taste fab. Instead of white poha, you can even use red poha to make these ladoo.

One of the most important things that you must remember while making these laddu is that, you’ll have to roast the poha really well. If it turns light brown, it’s fine.

But make sure to roast it well. One way to check this is take some of the poha and break them with your fingers. If they snap easily, you are good to go.

Also, when grinding the roasted parched rice with the jaggery for this Poha Laddu, you should grind it till a slightly semi-coarse mixture is formed. The mixture should resemble the texture of fine semolina (rava/sooji).

This Aval Laddu are an awesome choice of sweet snack for kids as well. Plus, you can make these laddu during festivals like Krishna Jayanthi and poojas also. The recipe can be scaled easily and the ladoo stay good for a week, when refrigerated.

Step-by-Step Guide

How to make Aval Laddu

Roast Aval/Poha

1. Heat a pan or a small kadai. Lower the heat and add 1 heaped cup thick poha/aval in it. You can also use red poha.

thick poha added to hot pan for making poha laddu.

2. On low heat, roast the poha. Stir often.

roasting poha in pan for making poha laddu.

3. The poha needs to become crisp. If some of it becomes light brown, it’s fine. But it needs to be roasted well.

Just break few poha/aval with your fingers and if they snap or break easily, they are done.

roasting poha in pan for making poha laddu.

4. Remove the roasted poha and add to a grinder jar.

roasted poha added to a grinder jar for making poha laddu.

5. Now, add ⅓ cup jaggery powder or grated jaggery.

jaggery powder added to the grinder jar.

6. Grind to a slightly semi-coarse mixture, like that of fine sooji or rava.

ingredients ground to a slightly coarse mixture for making poha laddu.

7. Remove the prepared poha-jaggery mixture in a mixing bowl or pan.

prepared poha-jaggery mixture added to a mixing bowl.

Fry Cashews & Raisins

8. Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a small frying pan.

heating ghee in frying pan.

9. Add 8 to 10 cashews.

cashews added to hot ghee in pan.

10. On low to medium heat, fry the cashews till they begin to turn light brown.

frying cashews in hot ghee.

11. Then, add 1 tablespoon raisins and ¼ teaspoon green cardamom powder.

raisins and cardamom powder added to the cashews in pan.

12. Fry till the raisins swell up. Stir often.

frying raisins till they swell.

Make Aval Laddu

13. Now, add all of the cashews, raisins and ghee mixture to the ground poha and jaggery mixture.

dry fruits-ghee mixture added to prepared poha-jaggery mixture.

14. Mix very well with a spoon. Let this mixture cool down.

mixing ingredients with spoon to make aval laddu.

15. Then, add 2 tablespoons ghee (semi-soft) like shown in the photo below. Mix again.

ghee added to poha mixture.

16. Now, add 1 tablespoon milk. Milk can either be chilled or at room temperature.

milk added to poha mixture.

17. Mix again and start shaping the laddu. If you are not able to shape the ladoo, then add ½ to 2 tablespoons more of ghee. You have to keep on adding ghee in parts, till you can easily make Poha Laddu.

shaping ladoos from the poha mixture.

18. Shape into small laddu and keep aside.

prepared aval laddu on a plate.

19. Serve Aval Laddu or store in a container and refrigerate.

aval laddu served on a brass plate with some flowers on the side and text layover.

Expert Tips

  1. You can skip adding the cashews and raisins in this recipe.
  2. Opt to use red poha instead of regular white poha. You can use thick or medium-thick variety to make these laddu.
  3. You can use coconut oil instead of ghee (but with this, you will get the coconuty taste in the laddu.
  4. Swap almond or cashew milk with dairy milk.
  5. For the sweetener, use palm jaggery or coconut sugar instead of regular jaggery.
  6. Poha needs to be roasted well. Check by breaking a few roasted grains with your fingers. If they are roasted well, they will break easily.
  7. The milk used for this recipe can be chilled or at room temperature.
  8. If you are unable to shape the laddu, add about ½ to 2 tablespoons more ghee. Keep adding ghee in parts, till you can easily shape the ladoo.
  9. Make more number of ladoo by scaling the recipe.

More Laddu Recipes To Try!

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aval laddu recipe, poha laddu recipe, atukula laddu recipe

Aval Laddu | Poha Laddu

Aval laddu also called Poha Laddu are delicious ladoo or sweet balls made with thick poha or aval (flattened rice or parched rice), jaggery, cashews, raisins, milk and ghee. They make for an easy festive sweet.
4.73 from 11 votes
Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 14 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Cuisine Indian
Course Sweets
Diet Gluten Free, Vegetarian
Difficulty Level Moderate
Servings 10 Aval Laddu
Units

Ingredients

  • 1 cup poha – heaped, thick variety (flattened rice or parched rice), 100 grams
  • cup jaggery powder or finely chopped jaggery or grated jaggery
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons Ghee or add as required
  • 1 tablespoon milk – cold or at room temperature
  • ¼ teaspoon green cardamom powder
  • 8 to 10 cashews – optional
  • 1 tablespoon raisins – optional

Instructions
 

Preparation

  • Heat a pan. Lower the heat and add the thick poha in it.
  • On a low heat roast the poha stirring often.
  • The poha need to become crisp. If some of them become light brown its fine, but they need to be roasted or toasted well.
    Just break few poha/aval with your fingers and if they snap easily or break easily, they are done.
  • Remove the poha/aval and add them to a grinder jar.
  • Now add jaggery powder or finely chopped or grated jaggery.
  • Grind to a slightly semi-coarse mixture, like that of fine sooji or rava.
  • Remove this poha and jaggery mixture in a mixing bowl or pan.

Frying cashews and raisins

  • Now heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a small frying pan.
  • Add 8 to 10 cashews.
  • On a low to medium heat, fry the cashews till they start to turn light brown.
  • Then add the raisins the green cardamom powder.
  • Fry till the raisins swell up. Stir often while frying.

Making aval laddu

  • Now add the ghee+cashews+raisins+cardamom mixture to the ground poha and jaggery mixture.
  • Mix very well with a spoon. Let this mixture cool down.
  • Then add 2 tablespoon ghee which is in a semi-solid state. Mix thoroughly again.
  • Now add 1 tablespoon milk. Mix again and start shaping the laddu.
    If you are not able to make the ladoo, then add ½ to 2 tablespoons more of the ghee. You have to keep on adding ghee till you can easily make the aval laddu
  • Shape into small poha laddu and keep aside.
  • Serve the Poha Laddu or Aval Laddu. Or store them in a container and refrigerate.

Notes

  1. The aval laddu recipe can be doubled or tripled.
  2. The cashews and raisins can be skipped.
  3. Coconut oil can be used instead of ghee, but the poha laddu will get the taste and flavor of coconut oil.
  4. Instead of dairy milk, you can use almond milk or cashew milk.
  5. Instead of jaggery, palm jaggery or coconut sugar can also be used.
  6. You can also make these laddu with red poha or red aval.

Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)

Nutrition Facts
Aval Laddu | Poha Laddu
Amount Per Serving
Calories 147 Calories from Fat 45
% Daily Value*
Fat 5g8%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3g
Monounsaturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 12mg4%
Sodium 2mg0%
Potassium 43mg1%
Carbohydrates 23g8%
Fiber 0.4g2%
Sugar 8g9%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 2IU0%
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 0.02mg1%
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 0.01mg1%
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 0.3mg2%
Vitamin B6 0.04mg2%
Vitamin B12 0.01µg0%
Vitamin C 0.1mg0%
Vitamin D 0.02µg0%
Vitamin E 0.03mg0%
Vitamin K 0.5µg0%
Calcium 11mg1%
Vitamin B9 (Folate) 2µg1%
Iron 0.3mg2%
Magnesium 9mg2%
Phosphorus 32mg3%
Zinc 0.3mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This Aval Laddu recipe from the archives, originally published in July 2016 has been updated and republished on January 2023.

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32 Comments

    1. It is roughly about 147 Calories. You can see the calories and other nutrition data in the recipe card.

  1. Hi dassana,
    Today I tried this recipe and it came out really well and tasted yummy. It’s an awesome recipe with very simple ingredients. Thank you….5 stars

  2. Very tasty
    Thanks for sharing .just I did one change. I grinded cashews badam, dates and fried in ghee and added to poha flour. But it tasted good. U made me to try my first laddu. Thanks a lot.. 🙂 it’s so encouraging that even a newbie can make sweets.5 stars

  3. I have seen people adding coconut to get consistency. If we can, can you tell me how to add coconut and how much coconut should be used?3 stars

    1. coconut and even peanuts can be added. you can add 2 to 3 tablespoons of coconut. can use both fresh as well as desiccated coconut. just lightly roast the coconut in a little bit of ghee. no need to make the coconut light brown or brown. then add the coconut to the powdered poha.

  4. Thanks for this ladoo recipe.i made it today .it was good.its a different recipe . with simple ingredients.

    1. share, there is a slight crunch from the roasted poha. but not too crunchy. could be that the poha was roasted too much and hence the ladies have become more crispy and crunchy.

  5. Hello madam, i tried making this recipe but my ladoos became very hard….what should i do to make them soft again? i did the procedure as mentioned above.

    1. the poha has to be roasted very well. if the poha is not roasted well, the ladoos will become dense or hard. keep the ladoos at room temperature, so that the ghee comes to room temperature and the texture will become a bit soft. hope this helps.

  6. ma’am I have tried these ladoos today, but i couldnt bind them well, they were breaking.. can you please tell the possible reason for that, also i want to know what is the purpose of using milk??4 stars

    1. just some more ghee added would have solved the issue. some more milk added could have also helped. milk help in binding and gives some moisture in the ladoos. thats why i added. just add 1 to 2 tablespoons ghee. the ghee should be at room temperature. if still not able to bind, then add 1 tbsp more of the ghee.

  7. I made these today. Though the color of ladoos was not brown, but cream like that of suji ladoos. But they tasted really really good.5 stars

    1. could be due to the color of jaggery. some jaggery are light or pale yellow colored and if you have used this one, the color will not be brown. they taste very good. that i can agree upon 🙂