Laddu

Something already cooked bound into a ball with syrup, and the name means small ball.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee).

Ingredients

• 250 g gram flour
• about 250 ml water, for the batter
• 350 g granulated sugar
• 200 ml water, for the syrup
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 4 tablespoons ghee, melted
• 40 g cashew nuts, chopped
• 30 g raisins
• a large pinch of saffron
• oil for deep frying

Method

1. SOMETHING ALREADY COOKED IS BOUND INTO A BALL WITH SYRUP, AND THE NAME MEANS SMALL BALL. Its article is clear that laddu is a shape rather than a recipe: it is A SPHERICAL SWEET FROM THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT MADE OF VARIOUS INGREDIENTS AND SUGAR SYRUP OR JAGGERY, and THE WORD LADDU IS DERIVED FROM A SANSKRIT TERM MEANING 'SMALL BALL'. So the question is always what is being bound, and the article names the commonest answer: MOTICHOOR ('CRUSHED PEARLS' IN HINDI) LADDU IS MADE FROM BOONDI, TINY FRIED BALLS OF CHICKPEA BATTER SOAKED IN SUGAR SYRUP. That is the one below, and boondi is on its own page.
2. SO MAKE THE BOONDI FIRST AND KEEP IT SOFT. Gram flour batter thin enough to pour, dropped through a slotted spoon held high over medium-hot oil, fried thirty seconds -- pale, not gold. These are going to be crushed and rolled, so a crisp pearl is a wrong pearl.
3. THE SYRUP IS SHORT OF ONE THREAD, NOT AT IT. Four minutes at a boil. A one-thread syrup sets the balls hard; a little softer and they stay rollable for twenty minutes, which is what you need.
4. SOAK THE BOONDI IN THE WARM SYRUP FOR TEN MINUTES. They swell and go glossy. Saffron and cardamom in the syrup, not in the batter.
5. CRUSH ABOUT A THIRD OF THEM AND LEAVE THE REST WHOLE. The crushed part is what holds the ball together; the whole pearls are what makes it a motichoor rather than a lump. The name means crushed pearls, which is the instruction.
6. ADD THE MELTED GHEE, THE NUTS AND THE RAISINS, AND WORK IT WARM. Hands, not a spoon. It should just hold when pressed.
7. ROLL TWELVE BALLS AND PRESS EACH ONE FIRMLY TWICE. Once to gather, once to compact. A loosely rolled laddu falls apart in the tin by morning.
8. LET THEM FIRM UP FOR AN HOUR BEFORE MOVING THEM. Its article records laddus as served at celebrations and especially those associated with Ganesha, and finds ladduka in the Sushruta Samhita as SMALL BALLS OF JAGGERY, PEANUTS, AND SESAME SEEDS COATED WITH HONEY, used as an antiseptic and TO DELIVER MEDICATION.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes