Roast the rava and besan with ghee for 10 minutes, stirring constantly on medium heat.
Add the grated coconut and roast for another 2 minutes. Turn the heat off.
Add sugar and water to a saucepan and bring it to a full boil on medium-high heat. Then adjust the heat to the lowest setting and allow it to simmer for 5 to 7 minutes. Lift the spoon up and watch the last few drops of syrup dripping from the spoon. The last drops should form a one-line string. Make sure not to overcook or undercook the syrup. More tips are in the notes below.
Add the sugar syrup to the roasted ingredients. Add saffron, cardamom powder, nuts, raisins and mix well.
Allow the mixture to completely cool down. Make round balls using about 3 to 4 tablespoons of the mixture. Press them in the plam of your hands and then roll them into round balls.
Video
Notes
Use fine rava and roast to light golden brown color
Use homemade ghee if possible
Thaw frozen coconut to room temperature. You can microwave for a few seconds.
Allow the mixture to fully cool down before trying to make laddu. At first, they may seem a bit too soft but they dry up eventually
Does your mixture look too dry even before you try to roll them? This only means that the syrup was overcooked. To fix, simply sprinkle some warm ghee and warm water and roll into round balls
No-fail tips for perfect sugar syrup:
Use an external timer to time the syrup cook time. It takes me 6 minutes to make the syrup with ¾ cup of water and 1.5 cups of sugar in a 2-quart saucepan
If you double the recipe, it will take about 8 minutes for the syrup to be ready
To check if the syrup is cooked properly, simply lift the spoon up and watch the last few drops of syrup dripping from the spoon. The last drops should form a one-line string
Instant Pot Sugar Syrup:
Add sugar and water to the Instant Pot and mix well, dissolving most of the sugar in the water
Pressure cook on Hi for 4 minutes followed by quick release
When opening, be careful to not drop the steam water from the lid into the syrup. That's all! You have the perfect sugar syrup for this laddu