Photo: Suyash.dwivedi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Maharashtra · Dessert

Shengdana Laddoo (Peanut Ladoo)

Roasted peanuts and jaggery processed together and shaped into dense, fragrant rounds — one of the most nutritious traditional sweets of Maharashtra, common in rural Vidarbha and Marathwada as a high-energy winter food. Unlike many festival sweets that are ghee and sugar-heavy, shengdana laddoo derives its richness entirely from the natural oils of deeply roasted peanuts.

🧺 Ingredients

• 2 cups (280 g) raw peanuts (groundnuts), skin-on
• ¾ cup (120 g) dark jaggery, grated (Kolhapuri gur preferred)
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds (til), dry-roasted
• ½ tsp dry ginger powder (sunth)
• 3–4 tbsp water (for jaggery syrup)
• Shape while warm — cold jaggery sets rock-hard; you have a 3–4 minute window to shape all ladoos

👩‍🍳 How to make Shengdana Laddoo

1. Heat a heavy pan (no oil) over medium heat.
2. Add raw peanuts.
3. Dry-roast, stirring constantly, for 10–12 minutes until the skins darken and begin to crackle and peel, the peanuts smell deeply nutty and a few develop light brown spots.
4. Remove from heat.
5. Cool for 5 minutes.
6. Rub peanuts between palms to remove most of the skins (skins should fall off easily).
7. Blow away the loose skins.
8. Some residual skin is fine.
9. In a mixer/grinder, pulse the roasted peanuts 5–6 times to a coarse crumble — not a paste, not fine powder.
10. You want pieces ranging from rough crumbs to small chunky bits.
11. The natural oil in the peanuts should start to become apparent (the mixture will look slightly moist from the oils).
12. Transfer to a bowl.
13. Add cardamom, roasted sesame and dry ginger powder.
14. Mix.
15. In a small pan, combine grated jaggery and 3 tbsp water over medium heat.
16. Stir until jaggery dissolves completely.
17. Boil for 3–4 minutes until it reaches a soft-ball stage — when a drop is placed in cold water, it forms a soft, pliable ball. *Do not overcook to hard-crack stage — the ladoos will be impossibly hard.*
18. Pour the hot jaggery syrup immediately over the peanut mixture.
19. Mix quickly with a spoon (the mixture will be very hot).
20. As soon as cool enough to handle (warm, not burning — about 1–2 minutes), grease palms with water or oil and shape into firm round balls, applying considerable pressure.
21. Work quickly — as the jaggery cools, it sets hard and the mixture becomes difficult to shape.
22. Place on a greased plate.
23. Cool completely.

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