King of all laddus

HYDERABAD: The sweet of gods that offers a mouthful of nostalgia is here. This Ganesh Chaturthi, fancy Laddus of various kinds are available in plenty — they come in different colours, textures and aromas. But the demand for the good old ‘Motichoor laddu’, literally meaning crushed pearls, is prevalent in the city. Its authentic taste continues to tantalise our tastebuds with sensory triggers of sweet childhood memories. CE surveys confectioneries in the city and speaks to confectioners about why this sugar and ghee-loaded Motichoor remains the king of all laddus.

Thousands of translucent saffron-tinted, very small, juicy softballs topped with melon seeds make up a motichoor laddu. It is delicate and held together in a paper case, but when the paper slips, the laddu breaks with all its sweetness, even when held gently.

This laddu, often served as prasad, melts with the gush of sweetness in your mouth and makes us grateful to the gods. “We innovate a lot of sweets and make many different flavours of laddus, but motichoor will never be out of fashion because it is a classic,” says Muskaan Dadu, one of the directors at Dadu’s mithai chain of stores in Hyderabad.

“Traditional mithais like motichoor create nostalgia among people. During Ganesh Chaturthi, customers queue for motichoor laddu and even wait till we restock so that they get the best laddu for their rituals,” Muskaan Dadu says, adding, “At Dadu’s, we make it very light and easy to eat with well-balanced sweetness and a very soft texture that melts in your mouth. We continue to maintain the nostalgic taste that we consistently offered for 30 years.”  

Making motichoor laddu is a complicated process. “It constitutes tiny deep-fried besan (gram flour) balls that bind with flavoured sugar syrup. This syrup is traditionally flavoured with kesar (saffron), rose water, and a tinge of cardamom. The combination of these ingredients makes motichoor different from any other laddoo,” says Sankalp Kumar, confectioner at Tewari Brothers at Khairatabad.      

“Throughout the year, customers come to our store wanting to try the different laddus and sweets on display. But we are always stocked with motichoor laddu. Some customers come from the other corners of the city and order motichoor laddos. During festivals like Hanuman Jayanthi and Ganesh Chaturthi, motichoor is the most sold sweet,” says Jagadamba Prasad, the store owner at Delhi Wala sweets, Mehdipatnam.