Gram flour and ghee laddoo made to the exact standard of the famous Thaggu Ke Ladoo shop of Kanpur — the confectionery established in 1905 whose self-deprecating motto "khaoge to pachtaoge" (you will regret eating this) made it the most well-known sweet shop of central UP.
Ingredients
2 cups coarse gram flour (besan)
3/4 cup ghee
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg — freshly grated
2 tbsp cashews — fried in 1 tsp ghee until golden
1 tbsp raisin
Method
Heat ghee: Heat 3/4 cup ghee in a wide heavy pan on medium-low.
Roast on medium-low: Roast stirring without stopping for 15 to 18 minutes. The colour should progress steadily from pale yellow to deep golden. Deep roasting is the mark of quality laddoo.
Fry cashews: Add cashews in the last 3 minutes of roasting. They turn golden alongside the gram flour.
Remove from heat: The kitchen should smell of deeply roasted gram flour and ghee. Remove the pan completely.
Cool 5 minutes: Cool until the mixture is warm but not hot.
Add raisins: Add raisins while the mixture is warm. They plump from the residual ghee.
Add powdered sugar, cardamom and nutmeg: Add all together. Mix thoroughly for 2 minutes.
Shape while warm: Quickly shape into compact, smooth balls — working while the mixture is still warm enough to bind. If it crumbles, add 1 tsp more warm ghee and try again.
Cool and store: Place on a plate. Cool completely. The motto of the shop was self-mocking but the laddoos became so sought after that people came from across UP specifically to buy them.
Note: Thaggu Ke Ladoo (thaggu = cheat/deceiver in Hindi) is the most well-known sweet shop of Kanpur — established in 1905 on the Mall Road. The shopkeeper adopted the provocative self-mocking motto "sabse bura admi: thaggu ke ladoo — khaoge to pachtaoge" (the worst person: Thaggu's laddoos — you'll regret eating them). The reverse psychology worked spectacularly. Today the shop is a Kanpur institution and the motto is part of local folklore, mentioned in multiple books on Indian street food.