Coconut Ladoo Recipe | Easy Nariyal Ka Ladoo At Home

Coconut ladoo or nariyal ka ladoo is an integral part of Hindu festivals like Diwali, Navratri, and Ganesh Chaturthi. It is traditionally served as naivedyam (food offered to a Hindu deity as part of a worship ritual before it is eaten by devotees) or bhog to Lord Ganesha on Ganesh Chaturthi.

Our Coconut ladoo recipe is a traditional one, made with coconut, milk, and sugar, though jaggery (gur) is also commonly used as a sweetener. While we suppose that coconut ladoo originated in the coastal regions of India where fresh coconuts are grown, it is now easily available and enjoyed across the country. This delicious coconut ladoo can be made using fresh coconut, frozen coconut, or desiccated coconut. If using desiccated coconut, make sure that it is finely shredded so that it can absorb the milk and sugar better and make for soft, tender ladoos.
 

Coconut ladoos come in many avatars depending on the cooking method and the ingredients used. The many variations of this sweet depend on the region, family, festival, and personal preference.

You can make coconut ladoo with fresh or dry (desiccated) coconut. You can use either milk or khoya or condensed milk or even evaporated milk (our recipe is coconut ladoo with milk). You can use sugar, jaggery, or palm jaggery as the sweetener. You can flavour the ladoos with cardamom powder or saffron (as we have done in our recipe), or use nutmeg (especially in winter), or you can omit all these and go with plain ladoo. You can also stuff coconut ladoo with almond, cashew, or raisin.
 

Our easy coconut ladoo recipe calls for only three key ingredients—coconut (desiccated), milk, and sugar—and some saffron for flavouring and a bit of ghee to help with the rolling out of the ladoos.

Follow our quick and easy coconut ladoo recipe and learn how to make coconut ladoo at home in a jiffy, with no hassle and no fuss.

Celebrate Diwali with the sweet taste of traditional nariyal ladoo made the old-fashioned way.
 

Tips on how to make Coconut Ladoo at home:

The quantities of the ingredients of our coconut ladoo recipe can be halved or doubled or tripled depending on your requirement.

Lightly dry roast the desiccated coconut in a skillet over medium low heat until it just starts getting some colour, stirring continuously to prevent burning, before adding milk. This intensifies the flavour and taste of the coconut.
 

Cook coconut ladoo recipe ingredients over a medium flame to prevent the milk and coconut from burning.

If you like, you can replace sugar with jaggery or brown sugar. Note that jaggery will impart a brown colour to the coconut laddu.
 

The most common traditional way of making coconut ladoo is by combining milk and sugar, which we have used in our recipe. You can also replace milk and sugar with ¾ cup of condensed milk to reduce the cooking time. You can also use evaporated milk instead of condensed milk if you want to reduce the sugar content.

The cooking method is simplicity itself and takes only a short time.
 

Mix all the ingredients well and cook them together on medium heat, stirring often, till the coconut ladoo mixture thickens, begins leaving the sides of the kadhai or wok, and looks slightly granular in consistency. The mixture should be moist, but not too wet.

Do not overcook the mixture, else the coconut ladoos will turn hard.
 

Cool the mixture till just cool enough to handle. While it is still warm and moist, take small portions and shape into plum-size balls or ladoos by rolling them between your palms. Grease your palms with 1 teaspoon ghee while forming the coconut ladoos. This will prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands.

To produce coconut ladoos of uniform shape and size, divide the mixture into 10 equal size portions before you start forming the ladoos. But be quick as you do not want the mixture to cool off too much or dry off.
 

If the coconut mixture becomes too cool to form into ladoos, warm the mixture slightly and then continue.

Finally, dredge the coconut ladoos in some desiccated coconut (nariyal ka burada) to coat them lightly.

Voila! Delicious, soft, melt-in-the-mouth coconut ladoos are ready.
 

Turn ladoo making into a fun-filled family activity by getting children involved in rolling out the coconut ladoos.

Store coconut ladoos in an airtight jar and refrigerate if not eating right away. Coconut ladoos made with just sugar stay well in the fridge for more than a week.
 

Learn how to make quick and easy coconut ladoos with our step by step coconut ladoo recipe video above.

Or see all our Sweet Recipes right here!