5 Winter Sweets You Can Make with Pure Cow Ghee

The first cold morning of the year has a smell. Besan roasting slowly in a heavy kadhai, cardamom cracking open, pure cow ghee melting into everything. If you grew up in an Indian home, you know exactly what I mean.

That smell means the winter sweets season has started. Gajar halwa in the north, gond laddoo in Rajasthan and Gujarat, besan laddoo for Diwali, til and gud around Lohri and Makar Sankranti. The sweets change by state, but the idea is the same: something warm, rich and made with ghee.

Here are five winter sweets you can make at home, with real quantities and no guesswork. First, a quick word on why the ghee matters more than most recipes admit.

Why Use Pure Cow Ghee in Sweets

You can make every recipe below with refined oil. It will work. It will also taste like nothing in particular. Here is what pure cow ghee actually changes.

• Flavor. Ghee turns nutty and slightly caramelised when it heats. Oil just smells like oil. Most of a besan laddoo’s aroma comes from the ghee, not the besan.
• Texture. Ghee coats flour evenly, so halwa turns out silky and laddoos stay soft instead of crumbling in your hand.
• Heat. Roasting besan or atta means 12 to 15 minutes of steady stirring. Ghee handles that without turning bitter.
• Keeping quality. Ghee has almost no water in it, so laddoos hold their shape and last longer.
• Less goes further. A good cow milk ghee is flavorful enough that you use less to get the same richness.

Quality varies a lot, though. Ghee made from fresh milk tastes clean. Badly made ghee can taste flat or leave a greasy aftertaste in a sweet, and in a laddoo there is nowhere for that to hide. SRC Farms makes its pure cow ghee from the milk of its own cows at its farm in Hooghly, West Bengal, so the source is one place and not a mix of suppliers.

1. Besan Ghee Laddoo

The one everybody starts with. Three main ingredients, and the only skill involved is patience.

Makes: about 14 laddoos | Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 2 cups besan, ¾ cup ghee, ¾ cup powdered sugar, ½ tsp cardamom powder, a handful of chopped almonds.

Method:

1. Melt the ghee on low heat and add the besan.
2. Roast for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until it turns golden and smells nutty.
3. Take it off the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
4. Mix in the sugar, cardamom and almonds.
5. Shape into laddoos while the mixture is still warm.

Tip: Do not rush the roast. Under-roasted besan tastes raw, and no amount of sugar fixes it.

2. Gajar Halwa

Red winter carrots show up in the market and this halwa follows right behind. It takes time, but nearly all of it is stirring.

Serves: 6 | Time: about 1 hour

Ingredients: 1 kg grated carrots, 4 tbsp ghee, 1 litre full-cream milk, ¾ cup sugar, ½ tsp cardamom powder, cashews and raisins.

Method:

1. Sauté the carrots in ghee for 5 minutes.
2. Add the milk and simmer on medium-low heat for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until almost dry.
3. Stir in the sugar and cook for another 10 minutes.
4. Finish with cardamom, cashews and raisins.

Tip: Use full-cream milk. Toned milk leaves the halwa thin and watery at the end.

3. Gond Laddoo

A winter staple across Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab. The edible gum (gond) gives these laddoos a crunch you won’t get from any other sweet.

Makes: about 15 laddoos | Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients: ¼ cup gond, 2 cups whole wheat flour, ¾ cup ghee, ¾ cup jaggery powder, chopped almonds and cashews.

Method:

1. Heat a little ghee and fry the gond in small batches until it puffs up like popcorn. Cool and crush it coarsely.
2. In the remaining ghee, roast the flour until golden and fragrant.
3. Let the flour cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then add the jaggery, nuts and crushed gond.
4. Shape into laddoos.

Tip: Gond is the tricky part. If it doesn’t puff fully, you get hard bits in the laddoo. Fry in small batches and wait for each one to expand. Also, add the jaggery only after the flour cools slightly, or it melts and everything turns sticky.

4. Sooji Halwa

The quick one. This is what you make when guests arrive and you have 20 minutes.

Serves: 4 | Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients: 1 cup sooji, ½ cup ghee, 1 cup sugar, 2½ cups hot milk, cardamom, chopped nuts.

Method:

1. Roast the sooji in ghee on low heat until light golden.
2. Pour in the hot milk carefully. It will splutter.
3. Add the sugar and stir until the halwa thickens and ghee starts separating at the edges.
4. Garnish with nuts.

Tip: Always use hot milk. Cold liquid on hot sooji gives you lumps.

5. Dry Fruit and Date Laddoo

No added sugar. Good for kids’ tiffin boxes, and for anyone who finds traditional sweets too heavy.

Makes: about 12 laddoos | Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients: 1 cup seedless dates, ½ cup almonds, ½ cup cashews, ¼ cup walnuts, 2 tbsp ghee, a pinch of cardamom.

Method:

1. Lightly roast the nuts in a teaspoon of ghee and chop them coarsely.
2. Blend the dates into a soft paste.
3. Heat the remaining ghee, add the date paste and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Mix in the nuts and cardamom, then shape once cool enough to handle.

Tip: If your dates are dry, soak them in warm milk for 15 minutes before blending.

Tips for Better Winter Sweets

Most failed winter sweets come down to the same few mistakes.

• Keep the heat low. Medium heat burns flour before it develops any flavor.
• Start with good ghee. In these recipes ghee is the main flavor, so a fresh cow milk ghee shows up in the taste immediately.
• Cool before shaping. A mixture that’s too hot falls apart. One that’s too cold won’t bind. Warm to the touch is right.
• Store them properly. Keep laddoos in airtight containers in a cool, dry spot. Besan and atta laddoos stay good for 10 to 15 days. Halwas are best eaten fresh, or within 2 to 3 days if refrigerated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why use ghee instead of oil in Indian sweets? 

Ghee gives a richer aroma, a smoother texture and better binding. It also handles long, slow roasting without turning bitter, which oil often does.

How much ghee goes into a laddoo? 

As a rule, about ¾ cup of ghee for every 2 cups of flour, which works out to roughly a tablespoon per laddoo. If the mixture feels dry, add a spoonful more.

How long do ghee laddoos last? 

Besan, atta and gond laddoos stay fresh for 10 to 15 days in an airtight container. Dry fruit laddoos last a little longer.

Can I use less ghee in these recipes? 

You can, but the texture changes and laddoos turn dry. If you are watching your intake, make smaller portions instead of cutting the ghee. A good cow milk ghee also gives you more flavor per spoon.

Is it okay to eat these sweets every day? 

Traditional sweets are meant to be enjoyed in moderation. If you have a health condition, ask your doctor what works for you.

Make This Winter a Sweeter One

Good winter sweets need very little: a heavy pan, some patience and ghee you trust. Start with the besan laddoo if you’re new to this, then move on to gajar halwa once you have the feel for roasting.

SRC Farms makes pure cow ghee from its own herd in Hooghly. Pick up a jar before the festive season starts and make this winter’s sweets with it.