Chocolate Hazelnut Ladoo: a Glorious Indian Sweet

If you like Indian sweets, you’ll love these chocolate hazelnut ladoo. Sweet chocolatey balls are covered in hazelnut chocolate and then coated in roasted hazelnuts. If you’ve never tried Indian sweets, now’s the time to do it.

Indian sweets have long held a fascination for me, they are so very different to our own. I got my first taste of them when I was a student living in London where a couple of Indian sweet shops were located just around the corner from the faculty building. Later on, when I lived in the Midlands, I was surrounded by balti houses and Indian supermarkets, so I was able to indulge from time to time.

Indian Sweet Challenge

Now I live back home in Cornwall, I no longer have that option. Luckily Devnaa, an online purveyor of Indian inspired confectionery, has come to the rescue. Indian-Inspired Desserts, their book written by co-founder Roopa Rawal means I can now make my own.

I was recently sent a signed copy of the book along with the ingredients to make two specific sweets. Both contain chocolate. The recipes were kindly bookmarked and the ingredients all weighed and ready to go. If only things were this easy normally. In true Devnaa style, the ingredients arrived in bright pink bags which match both the colour used in the book and on the accompanying box of chocolates. Oops, didn’t I mention the box of chocolates? An unexpected gesture and much appreciated.

It must be the time of year, because last September I made blackberry barfi by adapting a recipe from this very book. This time around, I tried hard to follow the recipe for once and I mostly succeeded. The process was enjoyable, less messy than making truffles and a lot easier than I was expecting it to be.

Chocolate Hazelnut Ladoo

The recipe was mostly easy to follow, although I needed to interpret quite a bit of it. However, overall I was really pleased with the result.

I was particularly pleased with the result of the chocolate coating which looked shiny and enticing. With the problems I’ve been having tempering chocolate, the shiny surface produced was an unexpected bonus – it looked tempered, even though it wasn’t. It was almost a shame to cover it with the roasted nuts.

But I’m glad I did as they were an integral part of the experience. They not only augmented the flavour, but gave a crunchy contrast to the chewy interior. I now realise I should have chopped them a little more finely as I only had enough to coat ten ladoos. Lesson learned. But, it must be said, I quite liked the chunky nature of my creations.

The centres were not soft like a truffle, but firm with the texture of the Indian sweets I remember. Spending time chewing on these was a real delight, in fact they ought to carry a health warning about their addictive qualities. Surprisingly they weren’t overly sweet. Chocolatey and creamy with a strong flavour of hazelnuts, I shall be making these again.

I really enjoyed this challenge and would like to thank Devnaa for encouraging me to make some sweets I might not otherwise have attempted. I’ve also now made the Pistachio and Chocolate Kachori.

Other Filled Chocolate Recipes You Might Like

• Passionfruit caramel chocolates
• Rosemary chocolate truffles
• St Clements cake truffles
• Whisky truffles

Keep in Touch

Choclette x

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Chocolate Hazelnut Ladoo – The Recipe

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5 from 3 votes

Chocolate Hazelnut Ladoos

If you like Indian sweets, you'll love this recipe and if you've never tried any before you're in for a treat. Sweet chocolatey balls covered in hazelnut chocolate and roasted hazelnuts.

Cook ModeToggle to keep screen awake

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time0 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: After Dinner, Gift, Snack

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: candy, chocolate spread, chocolates, hazelnuts, sweets

Servings: 18 chocolates

Calories: 123kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

• 220 g condensed milk
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 100 g milk powder
• 60 g hazelnuts skinned
• 100 g milk chocolate drops
• 1 tbsp chocolate hazelnut spread

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

• Stir the condensed milk in a medium saucepan over a low heat with the milk and cocoa until smooth.
• Add the milk powder and continue to stir over a low heat for about ten minutes until the mixture is cooked and comes together in a ball. Leave until cool enough to handle but still warm.
• Take a teaspoonful of the mixture at a time and roll into balls between the palms of your hands – you should get 18 balls.
• Place on a wire rack, cover with baking parchment and leave to cool completely.
• Toast the hazelnuts by dry frying in a pan over a medium heat for about 8 minutes, shaking from time to time to ensure they don’t burn.
• Leave to cool, then finely chop with a knife and put into a small bowl.
• Melt the chocolate buttons gently in a bowl suspended over a pan of hot water. Stir until smooth. Remove from the heat then add the chocolate hazelnut spread.
• Dip the ladoos into the chocolate and remove with a fork. Tap the fork on the side of a bowl to remove as much of the surplus chocolate as possible.
• Roll in the nuts, then place back on the rack to set.

Notes

You’ll need to chop the hazelnuts quite finely or you may not have enough to coat all 18 of your ladoos.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 123kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 41mg | Potassium: 153mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 97IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

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