Traditional Ladus

Four ladus, four different things

People often assume all traditional laddu taste roughly alike. They do not. Besan is rich and nutty with an open, grainy crumb. Moong is finer, softer and much lighter on the palate. Methi is a winter preparation, earthy and deliberately bitter at the finish. Dry fruit has no flour at all — dates and figs hold the whole thing together, which makes it chewy rather than crumbly.

All four are made in small batches, because these preparations do not behave well in bulk.