Dates & Nuts Laddoo

BM# 34: Week 4/ Day 2
Theme: Cooking from Sapana's blog
Dish: Dates & Nuts Laddoo

It has been a very busy weekend. Saturday whizzed by really fast with 2 birthday parties -- my sister's where we had lunch and evening snack with cupcake cutting then a surprise 50th birthday party for a friend. Of course we were late for the surprise part since we were driving from one corner of New Jersey to another. But all in all it was a great day with loads of good food and fun with family and friends.

Sunday started out lazy but soon became busy with house cleaning and laundry. We are hosting our first ever Thanksgiving party this year and even though it's going to be a potluck, I'm getting nervous about the menu, quantity of food, decor and just about everything related to hosting a party. So rest of the Sunday quickly went by with menu planning, laundry folding and Kung Fu Panda watching (not sure how and when the last one got onto the list -- but it's definitely worth the time, kept my mind off the impending work).

Moral of the story, practically no cooking done in the kitchen (psst... Sunday -- we ate the party leftovers kindly sent home by my mom and our dear friend). So for today's post I picked the simplest almost no-cook Dated & Nuts laddoos from Sapana's blog. They looked super healthy and super easy to make -- it took me about 10 minutes to put everything together. Also there is no sugar added in these laddoos, all the sweetness comes from the dates. 

Ingredients:
Dates - 1cup, pitted
Nuts - 1cup (I used ¼cup each of Almonds, Cashews, Pistachios & Walnuts, but any combination of nuts would work here)
Ghee/ clarified butter - 1tbsp
Ground Cardamom - a pinch (optional)
Grated dry coconut - ½cup (optional)

Method:

• Dry roast the nuts until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from the pan and cool. Grind into a coarse powder in a food processor. Remove and set aside.
• Pulse the dates in a food processor until it forms a coarse paste. 
• Heat ghee in a saute pan and add the dates paste. Using the back of a wooden spoon or plastic spatula mix the paste with ghee and cook for 1~2 minutes on low flame. 
• Add the nut mixture and cardamom (if using); mix until incorporated. Turn off the heat and cool slightly. 
• Take a tablespoon of the mixture and roll into balls. Coat the balls with coconut if desired. 

These can be stored at room temperature for up to 10 days.

Lets check what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 34.