Multigrain Churmundo (Laddoos).

“Multigrain Churmundo (Laddoos)” … Sharing delicious Churmundo prepared by my Mom … I have used multigrain atta + some additional nachani flour while preparing the same … A lovely soft ladoo that is a joy for children to relish as it goes puff when you put it in your mouth … Enjoy and stay Blessed … 

** I have posted Churmundo a few times before in different combos and most of the time the same has been prepared by my Mom, specially the making of laddo part. Churmundo is my Mom’s special signature recipe and no one binds it in my home like she does. My Mom makes them so good even now at the age of 86 yrs, that all my relatives still yearn for them and demand the same whenever they drop by. These laddoos were taught to me by her and I prepared them under her watchful eyes just like always getting some scolding’s in between for trying to take short cuts. Well Mom’s are always like that, we are still kids to them and they never fear to give us their sound voice even if we are in our fifties. Sigh, I just have to listen to her if I need those beautiful laddoos to relish, though how much ever I try I cannot bind them into smooth ones which her measurements of churmundo, I need to add in slightly more of ghee for easier binding while she does not do so. 

** Churmundo's are as you all know by now are laddoos prepared using wheat flour adding in a little bit of besan and rava. There are many other combinations in preparing these laddoos too, like addition of oats, poha, other lentils, nachani etc. Each home expertise in their own method, having their own recipes. However, these are very famous in our Konkani Saraswat community and are prepared often during festivals. A little bit of practice is necessary while binding the laddoos if you want to prepare them on drier side ie. Without addition of too much ghee. Adding of more ghee enables a person to bind them easily. However, the trick or rather taste lies in binding them with minimum quantity of ghee which is a bit difficult. So one can always start by adding in a little bit more of ghee and then once they get the grip of making it, can do by decreasing the amount of ghee. This time I have made variation and prepared the churmundo with multigrain atta easily available ready in stores along with some extra nachani flour and they were simply awesome and delicious. 

** Here is the recipe for preparation of these “Multigrain Churmundo” .... prepared by my Mom with me helping in only .... So the Credit goes entirely to her ... 

** Ingredients: 

Ghee / Toop : 2.5 to 3 cups (melted) + if needed 

Besan / Gram Flour : ½ cup 

Rava / Bombai Rulav : 1 cup 

Multigrain Flour / Atta / PeetHa : 2 cups heaped 

Nachani / Finger Millet / Ragi Flour : 1 heaped cup 

Cardamom / Ellaichi / Yella Powder : ½ tsp. 

Sugar Powder / Sakre Pitti / Pitti Shakkar : about 400 gms (depending on individual choice) 

Color (Optional) : pinch of orange color. 

** Heat ghee in a thick bottomed Kadai, the ghee should be thinned/melted by heating before measuring the same and adding on into the kadai. Now add into it besan / gram flour and fry well till you get a nice aroma on medium heat and the color changes a little bit, this takes about approximately about 10 minutes. 

** Now add in the rava and continue frying for another 5-10 minutes, it should get well fried. Add in a pinch of orange color if adding now and mix well. If you do not want to add color, you can leave it out, however Mom loves to add on a pinch, she says it gives the laddos a lovely tinge which is appealing. 

** Now add the Multi grain Atta, little by little mixing well as you add on. Keep the flame on minimum while doing so. Once you have added on all raise the heat slight and continue frying until the color changes slightly and you get a kitchen full of lovely aroma. Do not leave the flour unattended at any time as stirring is necessary step for even frying of the same lest it gets burnt. 

** Finally add in the nachani flour and mix well. DO NOT add the nachani flour along with the multigrain flour. The frying time varies for them and nachani needs less frying than the mixed flour, so add it on only one the other has been nicely fried. Now continue to fry all on low heat till you once again get a good aroma in your kitchen. It may take another 5-7 minutes. Now add in the cardamom powder, mix well and remove the kadai from heat. 

** Add in the sieved powdered sugar and mix well taking care to see that there are no sugar lumps left in between. You have to use a rubbing in sort of method to mix the sugar powder well into the mixture to get evenly mixed churan. Once it cools slightly and is still hot knead in the sugar well with hands as it should gets bounded better that way and you also get to check if there are lumps within.

** Now take a handful of mixture and check by trying to bind them into ladoos by pressing them well in your palms by applying gently pressure on it. If the mixture sticks and sort of become a lump and you are able to make a smooth ball, then it means the mixture is in the right consistency to prepare the churmundos / laddoos. 

** If you are unable to bind into laddoo and the mixture breaks up into powder, it means the mixture is not right and needs a little bit more of ghee addition. So, add in some more tablespoons of melted ghee and knead well into the mixture and try binding them into laddoos. Once you are able to do so, prepare them into even sized laddoos and place them on a try to cool. 

** "Multigrain Churmundo (Laddoos)" are done and ready to be served. You can also place them as Naivedyam to God before distributing the same among family and friends. Store them in air tight container and relish as and when needed. Remains good for 2 weeks at room temperature and over a month in the fridge, provided they remain for that long period. Enjoy these sweet laddoos and stay Blessed. 

** Note : Do not add the multigrain mixture and the nachani flour together into the kadai to fry. Add in the nachani flour only after you have fried the multigrain flour well. This is so coz. they are both of different heat texture, while nachani flour gets heated fast, the multigrain will not and will need a little bit more to be fried. So if you add together the nachani will get done faster and then turn out darker in color as it will get over fried and may at times turn bitter too.

** Note : The Multigrain Flour I added was purchased from stores which is readily available from Golden Harvest Company. It consisted of wheat, oats, chanadal, defatted soya, ragi, barley, maize, jowar, psyllium husk. I added on extra ragi/nachani flour to the same for preparation of the Laddoos. If the same is not available you can always add on just plain wheat flour in the same quantity along with nachani flour in similar method mentioned above and prepare the laddoos.

** Note : You should press down and keep all the prepared mixture in one side of the kadai and keep removing the same from one side only for preparing the laddoos everytime. By keeping, the mixture tightly pressed down on one side the heat remains within and the cooling process is curtailed making binding of laddoos a easier procedure. 

** Note : Keep removing some mixture and kneading them well with hands, and then proceed to prepare the laddoss with the kneaded mixture, this way the ghee within the mixture leaves out and the mixture gets softened and binding become easier and smoother. Once done, remove some more and knead them and continue to bind laddoos and follow similar pattern till all mixture is done and over.

** Note : You will approximatley get about 60 small lemon sized churmundos / laddoos out of this mixture. If you make them slightly smaller you will get about 70 laddoos in all. Off course the number of laddoos depends upon the size of the laddoos you are able to make. 

** Note : Raisins are always added to these laddoos, but this time I have not added them. If you want to add them there is absolutely no need to deep fry them separately, you can just add on the raisins towards the end of the process of frying the flour and mix well and then add in the sugar. The heat in the mixture is enough for the raisins to get slightly tempered. 

** Note : Binding of churmundo / laddoos is slightly difficult task and takes a little bit of practice. You can ask you friendly neighbor or relative who knows the same and watch them binding the laddoos live, as I believe there is nothing better than having an experience of preparing food by keen observation and interest. Maybe the next time I will try capturing a few more pictures of binding, when done as I forgot the same this time. 

** Note : The addition of ghee should be curtailed as much as possible except that much which is mentioned above in the ingredients list, to get a dry appearance on the surface of churmundo / laddoo. If you add too much of ghee you get a glassy/glaze look which may look appealing, but does not taste so good and gets somewhat stuck to the tongue as you relish the laddoos. 

** Note : To be on the safer side, keep some melted ghee ready beside if need be and add on a little bit if binding the churmundo/laddoo becomes difficult till you get the experience of binding them drier. It does take practice, trust me I myself am not able to bind the laddoos in the texture my Mom does and I do need a little bit of more ghee into the mixture for me to be able to do so. 

** Note : Finally do not give up on preparation of this laddoo, taking it to be tedious, the challenge always lies in achieving that which is difficult, Isn’t It ?? Also the powder will not go waste you can always relish them a with a spoon if still not able to do them till one day you will finally be able to do so. So its no wastage. 

** You can also check up on the link given below for the traditional recipe of churmundo, the way my mother prepares, though each home has its own method. 

http://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/search?q=Churmundo

** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of different types in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it or have a query, please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible. Do try out various types of dishes included in the Blog and Enjoy them with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. I have also started a food group for by the name "KONKANI DELICACIES" where in you will find many more recipes by members and you too can share some of your own. The link to the group is posted on the left side of the blog page. Do join us in our culinary journey. I strongly believe in Sharing and always endorse that "Sharing Is Caring" … Thank You ….