Laddoos Of All Kinds!

During my childhood a laddoo would bring the image of boondi laddoo only and never of any other kind.

By and by when we began seeing different colors and makes in the same shape we knew laddoos can be made with many different ingredients tasting so very different from each other. The occassional ghee roasted cashew bits and raisins sent us into a dizzy. The laddos would melt in the mouth while the dry fruits would offer the crunchy surprise to the experience of eating a laddoo.

To name just a few laddoos quickly which came to my mind just now are:
besan ke laddoo, atta ka laddoo, maalaadu, mohan laddu, rava laadu and one more which I tasted in Mansukh, a Gujju-Rajasthani restaurant in T.Nagar. That was good and I could make out that they had combined the boondi laddu with some maava/khoya and the combo was just fantastic. What was more surprising was that the laddoo was moist and piping hot which is never the case with the other laddoos which are cool and stored dry in bottles.

The boondi laddu is the most complex to make, process-wise. The others are fairly simple and quick to make. And equally tasty. Some are healthy too.

I had the opportunity of seeing different kinds of laddoos being made at a function called 'pethi urundai' (meaning on behalf of {pethi=grand-daughter, urundai=laddoo} in Tamil). Let me talk about this function later in another blog perhaps and not now.

My co-sister is very good in making laddoos. Since she knew the process for each and every laddoo, she assumed the role of a leader while my other co-sister and me assisted her in making them. By observing and participating we learn a lot. I myself learnt to make laddoos very easily and on my own after that.

She made the rava laadu, maalaadu, payatham laadu on that day.

I saw a sikh devotee make the atte ka laddu on some TV channel. She sang verses from the gurbani while she was preparing them. I hear the halwa at the gurdwara is also made this way. Quite interesting. It reminds me of our singing or chanting the shlokas while cooking meals for our families. Then such a saadam (food) becomes a prasaadam (a divine offering to god) for the whole family to partake.

Now for the glossary of laddoos!
Besan = bengal gram dal flour
Payatham = moong dal flour
Rava = fine wheat semolina flour
Maalaadu = roasted bengal gram dal flour
Boondi = besan flour batter is deep fried in oil or ghee and then processed
Khoya or maava = milk reduced to solid state by constant boiling and stirring
Atta = wheat flour
Ghee = clarified butter.

Now they use all kinds of ingredients to make laddoos. Like the ones made of malai. Dry fruits and nuts. All these promoted in the name of health.

One simple rule to follow in making most of these laddoos is to take equal quantities of ingredients. For eg., for Atte ka laddoo if you take 250gms of atta, then line up 250gms of powdered sugar (castor sugar) and 300gms of clarified butter or ghee as it is popularly known as.
The atta is in raw form and needs to be heated/cooked or processed.
So what we do with atta is to heat the ghee and then tip in the atta. Care should be taken to saute it continuously until the fragrance of both pervades the entire kitchen. Then allow it to cool off in a safe place where ants or other eager creatures don't fall into that mixture. Then add bits of roasted cashews or some sultanas/raisins and perhaps a half teaspoon of elaichi (cardamom) powder. Just mould them into balls by greasing your palms.
The same procedure is followed for besan laddoos also.
Rava laddu and maalaadu don't need the flour to be sauted. The rava and sugar are mixed well. ghee is heated and cashew bits/raisins are roasted and poured over the mixture, all mixed thoroughly to spread evenly and immediately after portions are made into balls by touching the palm with milk to help in moulding the laddoos.

If by chance the ghee is not sufficient then you may heat a little more quantity of ghee, add the same and mould it into balls.

Thats for today folks!
Enjoy!
Mahalakshmi