Sunnundalu – is a very old and authentic and traditional recipe popular in South India. This is a very very healthy and nutritious sweet dish. Urad dal is one of the richest source of Vitamin B. Urad dal has iron, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, potassium which makes it a healthy pulse. All the ingredients used for the preparation of this sweet are considered to be healthy. This is a famous Andhra delicacy made with pure ghee. The traditional recipe of Urad Dal Laddu calls for ingredients Urad Dal, Ghee, Dry fruits and Jaggery. Traditional sunnudalu made by using sugar, but I am replacing sugar with jaggery, which makes this sweet even healthier.

Urad dal is also known as Black gram or black lentil, Vigna mungo, urad bean, ulundu paruppu, minapa pappu, mungo bean or black matpe bean. Black gram is a bean grown mainly in south Asia. Urad dal is used as a major ingredient in Indian cuisine for preparing a healthy diet. It is extensively utilized in various culinary preparations such as Dosa, Idli, papad and Vada.

In ancient India, Ghee was the preferred cooking oil.  Ayurveda has traditionally considered ghee to be the healthiest source of edible fat, with many beneficial properties. Ghee, also known as clarified butter, is prepared by heating butter or cream to just over 100°C to remove water content by boiling and evaporation, then filtering out the precipitated milk solids. 

Step by step photo instructions

1. Dry roast black gram or minumulu on low-med heat until the rawness gone and you smell the nice aroma when they are well roasted. Do not burn. Let them cool.

2. Transfer black gram into a blender, grind coarsely(not too smooth powder).

3. Add jaggery and grind again. Make sure the jaggery is well grinded.

4. Roast nuts and dry fruits in ghee.

5. Add roasted nuts and 6-8 tbsp ghee to the ground black gram powder. Mix everything until well combined.

6. Take 2-3 tbsp of mixture and make laddu by pressing it round.

7. Store laddus in an air tight container. Laddus will be good for at least 2 weeks. No refrigeration needed.