Pista Gulkand Laddu Recipe / Dairy Free, No Cook, Pistachio & Rose Petals Sweet Preserve Bites / Vegan Pistachio & Rose Petals Preserve Sweets Recipe

I have been in a race with the Sun for many years now. That I rarely win the race is another thing. The Sun manages to beat me on most days, cause by the time I am waking up and stretching my lazy bones, he is outside my window winking at me and teasing me that while he has been up and shining, I am still struggling to wiggle myself out of those feather soft sheets. That feeling of just a few minutes more and then I will be "as fresh as a daisy", has neither ceased nor diminished from my school going days till now. Back then I used to think that feeling like this was exclusively for children, as I would always find an ear to ear smiling Mother with no traces of any "I want to sleep a little more" on her face, nudging me up awake every morning. I would think then that in mothers maybe that state of mind is non-existent, but nothing like that happened with me after I donned the role of a mother. I still struggle, every single day to tear my head away from those clouds of softness, waiting keenly for the weekends, when I thankfully don't have to race with the Sun.

As I sit typing away my thoughts, the warm dessert breeze ruffling up a bunch of papers on my table, a smile lights up my face. I am beaming as today is one of those rare days that I have beaten the Sun in our race. I had started the day unusually early much before the Sun peeped up from behind the far horizon, with an extraordinary determination of accomplishing numerous tasks which had been lined up for the day. A late night call prior from a dear friend who is in her final trimester of pregnancy had got the ball rolling. She requested me to help her make two different types of sweets and send it to her before dusk as she wanted to send these along with her husband to her brothers living in England for the Indian festive ritual of Raksha Bandhan. He had a 9 p.m. flight and the sweets would therefore have to reach her home at least three or four hours prior. She always sent them handmade sweets and did not want to break that practice this year. However she had become too huge to move freely and was unable to perform even simple tasks like sitting down and getting up without help. 

So here I was left with the task of preparing not one but two sweets, which would not take much time, yet taste delicious and be liked by them. I realised as I began that apart from this I had a very busy day packed with appointments and meetings and since I had taken this on me, I better come up with something quick yet yum if I didn't want to disappoint my friend. After raking up my brains I came up with two sweets, one which I have shared here. I even surprised myself by not only finishing both the sweets much before mid day, but delivering them well before sunset. What's more both the sweets had the seal of yum approval from my friend. Not only that I had managed to finish every other scheduled work way before Sun down. How if you ask me, I really don't know, maybe one of those spirited days when I ran faster than the sun.

The first sweet that I rustled up was a No Cook, Dairy Free, Three Ingredient Sweet, which honestly even amazed me with its taste. The Pista Gulkand Laddu / Laddoo was made in less than 15 minutes, yes dear readers you heard me right, packing it took another five minutes and I was ready with these delectable bites literally in a jiffy. Friends if like me you are also racing against time with the festival of Raksha Bandhan just a couple of days away, get going and make the Pista Gulkand Laddu instead of buying sweets from a store as I can guarantee you that there is no greater sense of satisfaction than personalizing and treating your loved ones with your handmade sweets. 

The Pista Gulkand Laddu uses raw Pistachios, Rose Petal Preserve known as Gulkand and Instant White Oats. All you need to do is to blitz all the three together in right proportions to form a soft dough, then shape them like lemon sized balls, roll them in powdered pistachios, place them in paper cupcake cases and arrange them in a pretty looking box. Surely now you want to get going and make this and surprise your dear ones with these enticing yummy bites.

Have a look at the quantities of these ingredients, which is very important to get the right taste to your Pista Gulkand Laddus . For my friends who live in places where getting the Rose Petal Preserve in a store is not easy, I am giving you the recipe of making instant Gulkand at home. I promise to do a full fledged post on both the traditional way and instant way of making Gulkand at home. Until then below is the recipe for making Instant Gulkand at home. 

To make Instant Gulkand at home ~ 

Ingredients ~ 

1 Cup Red Rose Petals, fresh

1/4 th Cup Water

2 Tbsp Sugar

2 Tbsp Dry Rose Petals

Method ~

1) Take the rose petals in a food processor and grind them using water to a coarse paste.

2) Transfer the coarse rose paste to frying pan, add sugar and dried rose petals. Mix well.

3) Simmer and cook for 10 minutes or till the mixture thickens.

4) Remove from heat, cool and store in an airtight container.

Pista Gulkand Laddu Recipe / Dairy Free No Cook Pistachio & Rose Petal Preserve Bites / Vegan Pistachio & Rose Petal Preserve Sweets Recipe ~

AUTHOR ~ PIYALI MUTHA
YIELDS ~ 10~12 LEMON SIZED LADDUS
CUISINE ~ INDIAN FUSION / FESTIVE 
TYPE ~ SWEETS
TIME ~ 15 MINUTES IN TOTAL

INGREDIENTS ~

• 1 Cup Raw Pistachios, without shells

• 3 Tbsp Gulkand / Rose Petal Preserve ( you can buy gulkand in an asian store or online easily)(https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vision-Fresh-Organic-Gulkand-250/dp/B00U6X2YZK ) (https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Super-Gulkand/dp/B0054M57QG )

• 1/2 Cup Instant White Oats 

• 1/2 Cup Raw Pistachios, powdered

Let's Make Pista Gulkand Laddu / Dairy Free No Cook Pistachio & Rose Petal Preserve Bites / Vegan Pistachio & Rose Petal Preserve Sweets, In Easy Steps ~

1) Grind half cup raw shelled pistachios to a coarse powder. Transfer the powder onto a plate and spread it out evenly.

2) In a food processor blitz together Raw Shelled Pistachios, Gulkand and Oats until they come together to form a soft dough.

Note ~ Leave some pistachios and add them at the last part of grinding to give a nice crunch to your laddus.

3) Transfer to a plate. Divide the dough into equal bits. Shape them using your hands into lemon sized balls or bigger as you wish.

4) Roll these on the pistachio powder and coat them evenly on all sides. Place the Pista Gulkand Laddus in cupcake cases. Assemble them nicely on a serving dish or box. Serve or send to your friends.

Reference ~

Instant Gulkand Recipe by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor

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