Methiche Ladu

and Hail Winter!

This is a winter speciality. It is not just anybody's sweet. "Oh really! Can we call it a sweet?" says my little nephew, jowling away.

You decide it. It has a good amount of jaggery in it attempting to make it a sweet. The flavors are robust and yet requires an evolved palate to appreciate it truly.

My aunt came armed with a supply of these methiche ladu for the entire family. This recipe is absolutely KOLI. She prescribes them for all in the winter, to strengthen the back and keep you warm and post natal must for women.

One time my uncle MJ carried them to Hong Kong and he was asked to demonstrate how they are consumed. They might have thought it was a Horse's creation LOL!

However as always my aunts and mother succeeded in getting us kids to get acclimatized to the taste. I still remember how I would hold it in my hand for a long time just about nibbling till the end. I loved the taste of halim in it though. Halim is a seed that swells like the tulsi seed/ sabja when mixed with saliva. I found that amazing at that young age.

It is more than a year now that I started blogging. I see my family searching for this recipe on the blog. They tell me a Koli blog is incomplete without this Methiche ladu recipe. Try them out at your own risk. Sometimes I recommend risking too ;).

Ingredients

1 kg Fenugreek seeds/ methi
¼ kg Gardencress pepperweed / Halim (Marathi)
¼ kg edible gum / Dinka
1 ¼ kg jaggery
4 nos coconuts
½ kg ghee

Methi to be dry roasted to dark brown color. Grind methi, halim and dinka in mixie. Melt ghee add jaggery, shredded coconut. Keep stirring till you get a sticky consistency. Add the ground powder. Mix well. Cool till you can handle the heat of the mix. Shape the ladu. This makes about 80 ladus. It has a shelf life of one month in the winter months.

This recipe can be made is a trial batch with 1 cup methi, 1/4 cup halim, 1/4 cup dinka, 1.25 cup jaggery, 1 coconut, 1/2 cup ghee.

Stay warm and stay indoors!