THE AUSPICIOUS OMNIPRESENTKUNJA LADOO
With festivals around the corner, announcing its arrival the, hurried preparations for sweets and savories’ is on and just shows, the importance of food or Prasad,on every occasion.Inspite of commercial availability ,of everything readymade, homemade is still ,the most popular.
As myths go the popular one is lord Ganesh’sand Hanumans love , for the rich, tasty Laddoo and as youngsters, celebrating festivals in the village with our grandparents , our biggest treat.was the KunjaLadooat the local Ganesh Temple. All our brownie points earned due to good behavior was, convertedas theprize ,in the form of a trip to the village ,to celebrate festivasl.
A South Indian New Year or varsha paruppu,coming up next month, conjures up visions of traditional celebrations in our village, the Kolams or rangoli in the front courtyard has to be the biggest and best in the village and the mango leaves and banana Sapling, decorating the main doorway, will tell its own, inviting, story.
Food was and remains, the major attraction and besides new clothes and money, we as children waited for our favorite snacks and sweets. Amongst the many sweetmeats, the KunjaLadoo and Coconut Ladoo, assumed great pride of place on the Thali or banana leaf on which food was served.
Not only does the Ladoo, have close to a dozen styles of making it, the oldest form called the ThengaiUrandai[coconut Ladoo] in South dates back to the time of the Chola Empire when it was a sweet that was packed for travelers and warriors as a symbol of good luck for their expeditions. Yet another variety is the Foxtail Millet Ladoos, which is the prasadam at the Lord Muruga temple today. If we go further back in history, legends suggest that originally Ladoos were invented for medicinal purpose by the father of Indian surgery and medicine Susruta. For instance, the Til ke Ladoo that we all relish today, Susruta in the 4th century B.C began using it as an antiseptic to treat his surgical patients, (thecombination of sesame seeds, jaggery and peanuts was said to have immense nutritional properties)
In the past,Ladoos were given to teenage girls to keep their raging hormones under check. In fact treatment, and not indulgence, was what led to the discovery of some of the popular Ladoos .
Contrary to how Ladoos may have come to the fore, their evolution was a sweet journey that began with the spice route and through the temples, which found it a much better way of distributing the prasadam without partiality.Ladoos, had the extra shelf life, which made it popular as they could be carried to long distances without being spoilt.
The real twist in the Ladoo story was of course affected by Sugar during,the early British era. Referred to as Sweet White Poison, it became the genesis of a lot of Ladoos that made it an everyday sweet.
The status of the Ladoo obtained a new pride of place amongst the sweetmeats, when Lord Ganesh and Lord Hanuman, according to[Katha’s or stories],displayed great liking for it. This popular myth is responsible for the hot sale of Ladoos in front of the Ganesh and Hanuman temples and the picture and idol of Ganesh with a Ladoo in his hand.
So here’s the recipe for the famous -
OMNIPRESNT AUSPICIOUS KUNJA LADOO.
Quantity
---60 medium Laddu’s
Ingredients
- Besan (kadalai
Maavu), Sieved – 2 cups
- Rice flour – 1 tsp.
- Baking soda –
1tsp
- Sugar – 3 cups
- Salt – 1 pinch
- color (Yellow or
orange) – a pinch
- saffron—4 to 5
strands.
- Cashewnuts broken—1/4
cup.
- Raisins---1/4
cup.
- Nutmeg powder –
1/4tsp
- Cardamom
powder—1/4 tsp.
- Clove powder –
1/2 tsp.
- Ghee – 2 tbsp.
- Oil – for frying
the boondhis
- kalkandu (Sugar
candy) – 1/4th cup (Optional)
METHOD.
Sugar
syrup
- Take wide
mouthed ,Nonstick or thick bottom vessel and add the entire sugar with
just enough water to cover the sugar.
- Mix the sugar
well and let it dissolve.
- Add saffron
strands and cardamom powder.
- Simmer and let
the sugar syrup come to single thread consistency. .
- figure out the
syrup consistency by letting the syrup fall from the ladle and when it
comes out as a thick string, rather than falling out in drops, the syrup
is ready.
- Switch off the
flame and add the desired color.
For
the Boondhi
- Sieve the besan,
rice flour and baking soda and make a thick batter adding enough water.
- Add a pinch of
salt and mix well. The batter should not be too liquid. This is something
to be taken care of.
- Heat a wide mouthed
frying pan and heat oil, with one teaspoon of ghee.
- Once the oil is
ready, pour the batter over the jarani[SEIVE] and take another flat ladle
and rub the batter on the jarani so that it falls out as tiny drops in the
oil.
- Take precaution
when doing this as the oil might splatter. Turn the boondhis over once or
twice and once it becomes light brown in color, drain it on a paper towel.
- Do the same
procedure for all the batter and keep the boondhis ready.
final stage ---Ladoos.
- Take a small
frying pan and heat 1tbsp. of ghee. Fry the cashew, raisins and then add
the clove powder and nutmeg powder and keep them ready.
- Keep the
boondhis ready and once the sugar syrup gets to the desired consistency,
pour the syrup on the boondhi and using a long handled ladle, mix it well.
- Add the fried
cashew raisin mixture and mix them once again.
- Once the Ladoos.
cools down a little, add the kalkandu (Sugar candy) and using your greased
palms, shape them as balls.
- Leave the Ladoos,
overnight uncovered or loosely covered and the next day keep them in an
airtight container.
- In cooler weather Ladoos shelf time is
more than summers, when it must be refrigerated.
TIPS
---Make sure the sugar syrup is right or the Ladoos may not form and make the
Ladoos when the boondhi is still warm. 3Add a spoon of ghee to the oil used for
frying, to give the extra flavor.
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