Sunday, February 1, 2009

Sonth ke laddu --- Energizing Power balls

“Food is so primal, so essential a part of our lives, often the mere sharing of recipes with strangers turns them into good friends…”





I recall as a child, whenever my mom (a complete home-maker) met her sisters/sis-in-laws/girl-friends or there was an all-women gathering/kitty party etc, ‘food’ was the inevitable topic and exchange of recipes the most popular pastime.

I remember my mom asking us in the morning at breakfast what we wished to have for lunch, and then at lunchtime, what we wanted to eat for dinner….and the cycle continued. Her world revolved around us and feeding us.
Infact my dad, a great food enthusiast, fueled it further by encouraging her to try new recipes…and inviting guests all the time. If that wasn’t enough we had guests at times who arrived unannounced, since they happen to pass by our place. And God forbid but if it was meal time, mum would go out of her way to feed them. Phew!

So exchange of recipes wasn’t really a pastime…but almost a necessity. Like, a rajasthani neighbour of ours taught mum how to make Gatte ki Sabzi, my granny’s famous Narkel Nadu was inspired by her bengali maid's cooking…etc etc.






Although a great cook, my grandmother, (I am sure we all feel that way about our grannies) never had a recipe book…so my mom has never really had one…and obviously that means there has not been any handing down of a recipe book to me, too.
So what happened to the recipes that changed hands…well that’s in the head! And now with the computer age it is a mammoth task for me to memorize all the recipes (especially because I try to explore cuisines of the world too)…so I use my blog to document them.

Here is one such recipe that I got from my grandma and then my maa. Sonth ke laddu are a sweet delicacy made of whole wheat flour, mastic gum, root ginger powder, almonds, raisins, clarified butter, fenugreek seeds, sugar, dry fruits etc. They are very healthy and provide warmth to the body, hence best eaten during winters. Its specifically great for lactating mothers. Each time there was a pregnancy in our family (sisters-in-law , married cousins, pregnant aunts etc) I looked forward to these laddus….I just couldn’t stop at one. ;p
Made them for the first time and have been having them for breakfast regularly.






These laddus are also referred to as Methi ke laddu or Gond ke laddu.

Sonth ke laddu

Ingredients-

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp methi/fenugreek powder
1 ¼ cup powdered sugar/confectioners’ sugar
½ cup clarified butter/ghee
½ cup almonds,chopped
½ cup raisins
¼ cup mastic gum/gond
1 ½ tsp root ginger powder
Milk for sprinkling

Method-

In a deep bottomed pan, sieve the whole wheat flour. Roast this flour with 2 tbsp of ghee, on medium heat. Take care not to burn it, keep moving the flour till its turns a slightly darker shade. It will release its nutty aroma. Remove from heat.

In a different wok, heat 2 tbsp clarified butter. Add the mastic gum and roast on medium high heat, till they puff up.
Remove from heat and let cool. Crush them coarsely in a grinder or by hand.

Now, in a bigger bowl mix the flour & mastic gum with all the other ingredients. Mix well with hand and make golf-sized balls.
Note: Sprinkle with a little milk, if required to bring the mixture together.

Store in air-tight jars. The shelf life is upto 15 days.





Ramblings—
My pictures are on two scales—yellow and white. Thats because the food pictures are taken as and when they are cooked- evening or day. I don’t wait to click later (for fear that we will finish the food before any pictures can be taken…lol..). I am not a pro at food-photography. A simple Canon digital camera and with practically no lighting system. Golden mellow lights are all good, nice looking and very comforting ..but when it comes to taking pictures in them they aren’t exactly the best lighting.

Thus you may not find the greatest of pics. But trust me I try and plate the tasty morsels like a pro. (The keyword is ‘try’ here.)


I send theses laddus over to Think Spice-Think Twice event, brainchild of Sunita.

And to The Alchemist Chef's Valentines' Day Recipe Competition, as this dish is a celebration of love for tradition and food!

33 comments:

  1. Though I am not a laddoo fan,I have always liked these.Thanks for the recipe :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow! it looks so tempting and delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have bookmarked to try, as I can imagine how good your grandmother would have made these... My mom and grandma never wrote down their recipes either, and my mom has to try to come up with measurements every time I ask her how to make something... As for your picture taking plight, I'm right there with you... I have no clue how to take pictures and I also have a simple Canon... But It's more about fun and enjoying yourself and keeping busy... So I try not to sweat the small stuff :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. The little balls look so delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  5. These certainly look great. My mother or my grandmother never wrote down recipes either. They all have the recipes memorized! It's great that we can document their recipes for our children :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Navita, thank you and thank you again for sending a recipe with mastic gum. I surely will try these. I am drooling just thinking of them. I never met my grandmothers but my mother neither had anything in writing as well and that's exactly what I'm try to do to recreate as many of the recipes she made.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A truly scrumptious little bite indeed. Indian confections rock!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ladoo looks cooooooool..:)
    Pics are all good dear..:)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I need to make these for my daughter who has a cold right now. but i better get myself off the couch and go and get me some sonth.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very nicely made laddoos - I have to struggle to get that sphere:), apart from the fact that they look so tasty!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Looks so tasty the wheat ladoos...Do u know mastic gum , great!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you for sharing such a lovely story and the Power Balls, they look and sound divine, I love many of the spices use = )

    ReplyDelete
  13. my maharashtrian friend made this for me..i loved it..tastes slightly bitter, but the nuts add a nice crunchy taste to it..healthy one..

    ReplyDelete
  14. my mom made these for me when i was pregnant but i am not sure whether the recipe was same or not, at that time i was so happy that my mom is with me to take care of everything that i didn't even bothered to ask her the recipe or stand with her in the kitchen to see how she is preparing.. sometimes you know you don't feel like:)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wish i had one ball, they look super yummy.

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a truly nice story, and these look fantastic. I would love sme for breakfast!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. so,finally mom made ur cake and what was the outcome ? simply loved that navitha..the kind of excitement you were having...
    and this laddu looks so yummy yaar...drooling..

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love those little balls - they look so delicious. I think your picture looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  19. That seems pretty easy... Delicious! Will try this..

    ReplyDelete
  20. Marking that recipe to try.

    AV
    http://netherregionoftheearthii.blogspot.com/
    http://tomusarcanum.blogspot.com/
    http://thingsthatfizz.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  21. I've never heard of these, but they sound yummy. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Mastic gum? that's another new one for me - always leaning something new :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. YEs these are delicious & healthy.. where did u get the gond? i never saw it around here:-(

    ReplyDelete
  24. These look really yum and they are so healthy...will try this, do you think I could skip the mastic gum and still be able to hold this together ?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Mmmm, give us almonds and raisins in any baked good, and we love it.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Oooh as soon as I saw the picture I thought "Ladoos!". I adore Ladoos, they're so scrumptious. Have you seen the movie Water where one of the characters dreams of eating Ladoos?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Wow laddu looks scrumptious, do u know mastic gum, thats great, am just googling to know more about the mastic gum..prefect entry for both the event Navita!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I love this post, funny how we associate food with company, bringing joy and all...

    ReplyDelete
  29. I love you guys..for sharing your thoughts...I get excited even if my dashboard reads- 1 comment, thats how precious these are!

    I have replied to all of you personally.

    However just to note: If u can't find mastic gum, use gond (a type of resin)and if u want to omit it...the laddu will still hold together, just add 2-4 tbsp more clarified butter.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I always made this recipe with my son he enjoys a lot making balls and it is so helpful to me It's great that he likes to cook even if he is a little kid.

    ReplyDelete
  31. hi, i am very thankful to you for this ladoo recipe. bs abhi bnaye hain. it's very testy.

    ReplyDelete
  32. thank you so much for posting this.. today out of my hectic work schedule i prepared this for my wife.. and it has come out to be awesome... !!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank You for taking out the time to put your thoughts into words. It is appreciated. Hope I am able to keep you involved, intrigued and happy with this blog. Your views are welcome.