Laddu

{{Short description|Spherical sweet from the Indian subcontinent}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{pp|small=yes}} {{Redirect|Ladoo|the Malayalam film|Ladoo (film)}} {{Infobox food | name = Laddu | image = Laddu Sweet.JPG | caption = | region = Indian subcontinent, Caribbean | main_ingredient = Flour, sugar, ghee, dry fruits | variations = Gram flour, rava | calories = | other = | type = Sweet }}

'''Laddu''' or '''laddoo''' is a spherical sweet from the Indian subcontinent made of various ingredients and sugar syrup or jaggery. It has been described as "perhaps the most universal and ancient of Indian sweets."<ref name = "bloom">{{cite book|date=2023|title=The Bloomsbury Handbook of Indian Cuisine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzysEAAAQBAJ&pg=PAPT269|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|pages=269–270|isbn=978-1-350-12865-1 |access-date=2023-03-14|archive-date=2023-03-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314103601/https://books.google.com/books?id=AzysEAAAQBAJ&pg=PAPT270|url-status=live}}</ref>

Laddus are often served during celebrations and religious festivals, especially those associated with the Hindu deity Ganesha.<ref name = "bloom"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/Sweet-shops-make-hay-in-Diwali-shine/2013/10/31/article1864851.ece |title=Sweet shops make hay in Diwali shine |work=The New Indian Express |date=31 October 2013 |access-date=17 January 2019 |archive-date=21 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421022428/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/Sweet-shops-make-hay-in-Diwali-shine/2013/10/31/article1864851.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/Food/as-good-as-home/article5288375.ece |title=As good as home |author=Sangeetha Devi Dundoo |work=The Hindu |date=31 October 2013 |access-date=17 January 2019 |archive-date=23 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123212432/http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/Food/as-good-as-home/article5288375.ece |url-status=live }}</ref>

== History and etymology== The word ''laddu'' is derived from a Sanskrit term meaning "small ball."<ref>{{cite book|last=Roufs|first=Timothy G.|date=2014|title= Sweet Treats Around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture|url={{Google books|hhXHEAAAQBAJ|page=PA171|plainurl=yes}}|publisher=ABC-CLIO|pages=171}}</ref>

In the 3rd-4th century Sanskrit medical text ''Sushruta Samhita'', ladduka are described as small balls of jaggery, peanuts, and sesame seeds coated with honey. These balls were used as an antiseptic and to deliver medication.<ref name = "bloom"/>

However, the first documented mention of laddu as a sweet is in the 11th-century Western Indian cookbook ''Lokopakara''. It gives a recipe for making laddus with shavige (rice vermicelli), ghee, and sugar syrup, which were formed into balls and fried in ghee. The 15th-century Indian cookbook ''Nimatnama-i-Nasiruddin-Shahi'' gives several recipes for laddus made with white flour, dried fruits, rosewater, camphor, and musk.<ref name = "bloom"/>

==Varieties==

===Besan laddu=== thumb|200px|Besan (chickpea flour) laddus

Besan laddu is the most common variety. To prepare it, besan (chickpea flour) is fried in hot ghee (clarified butter). Sugar and cardamom powder are then mixed in. The mixture is formed into balls and allowed to cool and solidify.<ref name = "bloom"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Collingham |first1=Lizzie |author-link=Lizzie Collingham |title=Curry : a tale of cooks and conquerors |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0195320015 |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2rRCwAAQBAJ&pg=Pg105 |access-date=2018-12-22 |archive-date=2023-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314103616/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2rRCwAAQBAJ&pg=Pg105 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Motichoor laddu=== thumb|200px|Motichoor laddus Motichoor ("crushed pearls" in Hindi)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/motichoor-ladoo-a-sweet-dip-in-the-history-of-indias-favourite-festive-treat-1729993 | title=Motichoor Ladoo (Laddu): A Sweet Dip in the History of India's Favourite Festive Treat | access-date=2022-08-15 | archive-date=2022-09-02 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902165037/https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/motichoor-ladoo-a-sweet-dip-in-the-history-of-indias-favourite-festive-treat-1729993 | url-status=live }}</ref> laddu is made from boondi, tiny fried balls of chickpea batter soaked in sugar syrup.<ref name = "bloom"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Krondl |first1=Michael |title=Sweet invention a history of dessert |date=2011 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |location=Chicago, Ill. |isbn=9781569769522 |page=17 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dt0RErSFvE8C&pg=PP17 |access-date=2018-12-22 |archive-date=2023-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314103602/https://books.google.com/books?id=Dt0RErSFvE8C&pg=PP17 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Thaggu ke laddu===

Thaggu ke ("Cheat's") laddu is made from khoa (condensed milk), semolina, and white sugar and is a specialty of Kanpur, India. It was invented by Mattha Pandey, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. Pandey heard Gandhi refer to white sugar, which was popularized in India by the British, as "white poison" and disease-causing. Since his laddu was made with white sugar, he named it accordingly.<ref name = "bloom"/>

===Shahi laddu=== Shahi (royal) laddu is made from the sweets peda and barfi, which are ground into a paste, mixed with cardamom, dried fruits, and nuts, and formed into balls. It is decorated with vark (edible foil).<ref name = "bloom"/>

=== Coconut laddu === thumb|Coconut laddus

Coconut laddu originated in the medieval Chola Empire, when it was packed for travelers and warriors for good luck on their expeditions.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/food-wine/food-story-the-journey-of-ladoo-from-a-medicine-to-the-much-loved-indian-sweet/#sthash.6mHIen3o.dpuf |title=Food Story: The journey of ladoo from a medicine to the much-loved Indian sweet |work=The New Indian Express |date=16 October 2004 |author=Madhulika Dash |access-date=26 September 2015 |archive-date=27 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927072954/http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/food-wine/food-story-the-journey-of-ladoo-from-a-medicine-to-the-much-loved-indian-sweet/#sthash.6mHIen3o.dpuf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Gond ke laddu=== thumb|Gond ke laddus Gond ke laddu is made from roasted and powdered gond (gum arabic), ghee, jaggery, and sometimes ''battisa'' or ''keoka'' powder. It is commonly served in North India as a postpartum food.<ref name = "bloom2">{{cite book|date=2023|title=The Bloomsbury Handbook of Indian Cuisine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3jusEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA322|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|pages=322|isbn=978-1-350-12865-1}}</ref>

===Temple laddus=== {{See also|Tirupati Laddu}} Some Hindu temples have their own laddu versions, which are offered to the deities and then served to devotees as prasada (sanctified food). The besan laddu served in the Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati, India, has been called "the most famous temple laddu." The Maa Tarini Temple in Ghatgaon, India serves laddus made from coconut and khoa. The special laddu at the Subramaniya Swamy Temple in Tiruchendur, India is made from foxtail millet.<ref name = "bloom"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Collingham |first1=Lizzie |title=Curry : a tale of cooks and conquerors |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0195320015 |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2rRCwAAQBAJ&pg=Pg105 |access-date=2018-12-22 |archive-date=2023-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314103616/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2rRCwAAQBAJ&pg=Pg105 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Others=== thumb|Wheat flour laddus thumb|Til (sesame seed) laddus thumb|Rice flour laddus Every region of India has its own version of laddu. In Rajasthan, laddus are made from wheat flour, in Maharashtra from sesame seeds, in Kerala from rice flour, and in Andhra Pradesh from rice flakes. Optional ingredients include grated coconut, roasted chickpeas, nuts, and raisins.<ref name = "bloom"/>

==World record== thumb|200px|An advertisement depicting the world record holder

According to ''Guinness World Records'', the world's largest laddu to date was created by PVVS Mallikharjuna Rao in Tapeswaram, Andhra Pradesh, India in 2016. It weighed 29,465 kilograms (64,959 pounds) and was made using a traditional boondi recipe with ghee, oil, cashews, sugar, almonds, cardamom, and water.<ref>{{cite book|title=Guinness World Records|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-laddu-(individual)}}</ref>

==In popular culture== In the ''Sesame Street'' episode "Rakhi Road", the character Elmo is shown eating laddus.<ref>{{cite news|title=Guide to Deepavali|url=https://www.timeout.com/kuala-lumpur/things-to-do/guide-to-deepavali|newspaper=Time Out|date=October 24, 2019|quote= ‘Sesame Street’ even paid tribute with a Rakhi Road episode which shows Elmo chomping away at laddu. }}</ref> Laddus have also been featured in cooking shows and food programmes showcasing traditional Indian sweets.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vasundharadevi |first=Surabhi |date=2024-07-09 |title=Indian sweet 'Magji Laddu' from Odisha awarded Geographical Indication Tag |url=https://gulfnews.com/food/indian-sweet-magji-laddu-from-odisha-awarded-geographical-indication-tag-1.1720525901172 |access-date=2026-05-02 |website=Gulf News: Latest UAE news, Dubai news, Business, travel news, Dubai Gold rate, prayer time, cinema |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Bangladeshi dishes}} {{Indian Dishes}} {{Pakistani dishes}} {{Burmese cuisine}} {{Bruneian cuisine}} {{Indonesian cuisine}} {{Malaysian cuisine}} {{Kue}} {{Singaporean cuisine}}

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