With the flight restrictions still persisting, I am missing the Revari and Gajak from India, this Makar Sakranti! So I made healthy laddos  with Finger Millet or Ragi Flour and a load of seeds and nuts. These laddos are sugar and gluten free, so they can be enjoyed completely guilt-free whenever sweet cravings occur!!

This recipe can be done quickly, though it uses a lot of ingredients, so keep all ingredients nearby in a measured quantity. Though all measures are approximate, a little less or more is alright and can be adjusted according to your own taste. 

Ingredients :

1. Finger Millet/Ragi flour –  1 1/2 cup
2. Mixed seeds 1 cup ( melon, black sesame, white sesame, poppy seeds)
3. Blitzed mixed nuts 1 1/2 cup ( Almonds and cashew nuts dry roasted and pulsed in a mixer-blender to form coarse powder)
4. Mixed nuts 1/2 cup (raisins, desiccated almond)
5. Desiccated coconut 1/2 cup
6. Edible gum 2 table spoons
7. Green cardamom powder 1 1/2 tsp
8. Saffron strands 1 tsp
9. Dry ginger powder 1 table spoon
10. Ghee or clarified butter as needed
11. Jaggery (at least a cup full or more according to taste) 

Method:

1.Take a small pan and add the jaggery with about 3 table spoons of water on low flame and allow it to melt completely. Stirring occasionally. 

2.  Simultaneously, take a Kadhai or a  thick bottom pan and dry roast the sesame seeds lightly till it pops. Keep aside. Also dry roast the almonds and cashew nuts to blitz. 

3. Now take 3 table spoons of ghee on medium flame. Lightly fry the raisins till they swell up. Keep aside. Now fry the edible gum till it pops. Keep aside too.

4. In the same kadhai, add 2 more spoons of ghee, add the ragi flour to roast till a nice nutty aroma comes from it. If the ghee is not enough, you can add more. I used about a cup full of ghee here. Stir constantly. It takes about 8 mins.

5. To this mixture, add poppy seeds and desiccated coconuts. Stir for a couple of minutes more and turn off the flame.

6.Stir the pot with jaggery and turn off the flame once it has melted completely. By now the additional water should have evaporated. 

7. Now to assemble everything, take a large mixing bowl. Tip in  all of the blitz nuts, mixed seeds, mixed nuts, and all other ingredients into this bowl along with saffron, and green cardamom powder. Try to crush the lumps of edible gum with the back of a spoon.

8. Tip in the roasted ragi flour too. Using a spatula, give it a good mix. In the end, tip in the melted jaggery little by little and keep mixing with the spatula.

9. Allow a few minutes, before binding equal size laddos by rolling it lightly between the fingers and palm. This has to be done while the mixture is still warm, but be careful not to burn your hands. Use ghee to grease your palms if necessary.

Store in an air tight container. It will stay fresh for a few weeks. No need to refrigerate. 

A laddo a day will give you plenty of nutrients and energy  completely guilt free!

Tips:

1. I have not soaked poppy seeds in water to prolong the shelf life of laddos. You can if you want.
2. I have kept whole sesame seeds but it can be pulsed along with nuts. It is totally on how you prefer it.