Rose and Coconut Laddus Recipe

This quick and easy Indian dessert of Rose and Coconut laddus drew inspiration from the In-Fused Living November 2020 Diwali special Cook along with Kamlesh Gosalia.  Kamlesh made mango coconut laddus for the cook along and the viewers loved it.  It had a short ingredient list and came together in less than 30 minutes.  It was totally up my alley as I am not very good at making Indian desserts and quick and easy sounds great to me!

What is a laddu?

You can call any sphere shaped sweet from India a laddu.  There are numerous types of laddus; besan (chickpea flour) and boondi (chickpea flour fritters) laddus being the most popular in my opinion.  

To Make Rose and Coconut Laddus

For my version of the coconut laddus, I decided to use Rose as my choice of flavoring.  Rose is one of my most favorite Indian flavors and rose syrup is used in the laddus.  It is made of fragrant rose petals infused in sugar syrup.  There is food coloring added to give the syrup a nice bright pink hue.  Roohafza is a very popular brand of Rose syrup.  I grew up in India drinking Roohafza in milk, soda or water, chilled with ice to cool off on a hot summer day.  It is still a very popular drink in India.  You can get Roohafza or any other brand of Rose syrup at any Indian or Middle eastern grocery stores. 

I have also added rose water to provide additional rose flavoring to the laddus.  Rose water is made by distilling fragrant rose petals with steam. It is added after the cooking process is complete to maintain its essence. 

The Filling

I decided to add a nuts and gulkand filling to the laddus.  Gulkand is a sweet preserve of rose petals and is made of special pink fragrant rose petals.  Gulkand is easily available at any Indian grocery store.  If you are unable to find it, you can increase the amount of nuts in the recipe.  To make it nut free, leave out the filling out altogether.  I would not recommend filling it with just gulkand as it would make the laddus very sweet. 

So as you can see, 3 types of rose flavored products are used in this recipe to give it ample rose flavoring!

What I like about this recipe is that you can get the kids involved in making the laddus.  Depending on the age of the kids, they can participate in the whole process or younger kids can make the balls and roll them in coconut.  Rose syrup used in the recipe gives these laddus a nice pink color and these laddus makes a great addition to any festive mithai spread. 

Rose and Coconut Laddus

Easy to make coconut laddus flavored with Rose syrup

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Recipe by Divya Jhaveri

4 from 8 votes

Course: DessertCuisine: Indian

Servings

15-16 laddus

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups unsweetened dry desiccated coconut

• 1 cup Condensed Milk

• 1 tablespoon Rose syrup

• 1 teaspoon Rose water

• 2 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter)

• 1/2 cup extra unsweetened dry desiccated coconut for rolling

• Filling

• 1/4 cup mixed raw unsalted nuts

• 2 tablespoons Gulkand

• 1 teaspoon ghee

Method

• To make the filling, roughly chop nuts into small pieces. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a wide non-stick pan. Add the nuts and roast stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes over low- medium heat. Once fragrant and the nuts slightly change color, remove them in a bowl and set aside to cool.

  • 

• Use the same pan and heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of ghee. Add 2 cups of dry desiccated coconut to the ghee and stir for 2 minutes on low- medium flame. It should start to smell like coconut and slightly change color. Remove the toasted coconut in a bowl and set aside.
• Add the toasted coconut to the condensed milk mixture and stir to combine. In 2-3 minutes of stirring, it should combine and form a mass. Add the rose syrup and mix to combine. Remove the mixture in a plate to cool till you can comfortably handle.

  • 

• Add gulkand to the cooled nuts and combine to break up any lumps. Add ½ cup dry desiccated coconut on a plate to roll the laddus.
• The coconut/condensed milk mixture should cool enough for you to work with it comfortably, but not cool completely. Take 1 tablespoon of the mixture in your palms and flatten. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of the filling in the center and fold and roll into a laddu/ball. Repeat with the remaining mixture to form laddus. Roll all the laddus in the coconut, covering it completely.
  

Recipe Video

Tips

• The laddus can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days or in the refrigerator for a week. Best eaten at room temperature.
• I used a combination of raw cashews, almonds and pistachios for the filling. You can use your choice of nuts.
• The preparation time in the recipe includes time utilized to roll the laddus.