Boondi Laddu

Boondi laddu needs no introduction to anyone who has attended a South Indian wedding, puja or family gathering. It's the round, orange-yellow sweet that comes in a paper cone or a steel tray and disappears first. The version made at home, or by someone who learned to make it the old way, is different from the commercial version in subtle but meaningful ways — the ratio of boondi to syrup, the freshness of the cardamom, the texture of the cashews.

This is made with gram flour batter passed through a perforated ladle into hot oil to form small spherical drops. Fried, drained, tossed in sugar syrup that has been cooked to the right consistency, mixed with cardamom powder, broken cashews and raisins, and shaped into laddus while still warm. The syrup sets as the laddus cool.

Good boondi laddu holds its shape, doesn't crumble when you hold it, and isn't so sticky that it glues to the paper. The flavour is primarily cardamom and gram flour with the mild sweetness of sugar syrup.

This is a Diwali sweet, a wedding sweet, a birthday sweet, a prasad sweet. It's also just a good laddu to have on hand.