Who can resist the temptation of sweets? When it comes to Indian sweets, it’s even harder. Indian sweets are not just sweets or desserts but a way of life and ingrained heavily in the culture of India. Amongst the various types of Indian sweets, the round shaped “Ladoo” is extremely popular in India. So much that even Lord Ganesha, the Indian elephant god is seen holding a ladoo in his hand. In fact, his favourite food is none other than the ladoo. There is no other way to please Lord Ganesh than offering him ladoos.
You just can’t escape the ladoo in India. You’ll find them in restaurants, the dhabas, stand-alone eateries and even on the streets stalls. Whether it’s a party, a birthday, a wedding or a religious ceremony, you’ll find ladoos being served. Basically, ladoos can be served any time and on any occasion.
Although they are typically made of flour, sugar, chickpea flour, coconuts cooked in “ghee” (clarified butter); there are numerous varieties of ladoos and various ways of making it. There are besan ke ladoo, motichoor ladoo, boondi ke ladoo, urad ladoo, modak ladoo, sesame ladoo, coconut ladoos and many more.

Out of these, I would like to mention my favourite, the motichoor ladoo. The word “moti” means peals and “choor” means powered. Therefore the motichoor ladoo literally means balls of pearl. And indeed they are the cutest and the most delicious of all Indian sweets. These ladoos are made of gram flour, semolina, ghee and garnished with almond powder.
Motichoor ladoo recipe
The motichoor ladoos are not difficult to make. The idea is to make dough from gram or chickpea flour and fry the droplets of dough called “boondis” using a perforated spoon or drainer in ghee. The boondis are then soaked in sugar syrup. They are then rolled into small balls in the palm of the hands to form ladoos. Finally they are garnished with pistachios or almonds.
Here’s a good video for making these motichoor ladoos.
Laddus are great, I too like them to the fullest. It makes good snacks too.
They do make good snacks. Great thing is that children love them too.
I love Indian sweets. My favorite has always been the ras malai.Just cant get enough of them.When I at the Indian shops I buy the royal sweets variety because we cant get them fresh.I will try the ladoo, the look delicious.
I too love Rasmalias. They have always been my favourite as well. Next time you are at an India, do lookout for the ladoos, you will like them. Thank you for Alan for your comment.
Mmm, I’m sweets lover, especially Indian Ladoo and Ras Malai types are too yummy.
Thanks for writing on this Shalu.
Ehsan, do you get lots of Indian sweets in Afghanistan?
Love that. I feel so satisfied by it. It looks really delish.
I love ladoo and other Indian sweets made with gee. I’ve had it only once or twice but absolutely loved it.
Hi Salika, I am glad you like the ladoo, they have always been my favourite as well.
Looks delicious! Would love to try them but Indian food can be hard to come by sometimes in Italy…
I also love ladoo. I have an Indian friend who brought me this one. My kids are also in love with this sweets.
Sarah, thats great. I am glad that you and the kids like them. Thanks for your comment.
I haven’t tasted any Indian sweets yet, but I will be sure to have A LOT when I go to India next year. I am so excited to be there for Holi!
Aleah, please do try them. I am sure you’ll like them. Thanks for your comment.
I LOOOVE Indian sweets! But I never tried this one – if I can’t find them anywhere down here in Australia, I might try to make them myself!
Motichur laddoo are awesome. this is a common sweet we offer in temples!
There are many types though?
laddoo with small pieces and ladoos with large pieces.
right?
Anchit, these ladoos are extremely popular as prasad at the temples. Thanks for your comment.
Hi Shalu,
Laddu is one of the favorite sweets item here in Bangladesh. People use it in different festivals like Eid, Puja and other traditional festivals.
Regards
Sara Fargoons
Hi Sara, I am happy to know that is liked in Bangladesh as well.
This treat is absolutely mouth-watering. I’ll be watching the video demo for cooking the mootichoor ladoo and hopefully, I could nail the original taste.
I’m a huge fan of sweets and I can’t wait to try this too. It looks delicious! Thanks!
I love sweets and this sure looks appetizing! Thanks for sharing more about it!
Thanks Shalu! Another gourmet treat for the foodie in me!
Hi Shalu Ji….
well motichoor Laddoo’s are my wife’s fav.
She loves laddoo very much….I like besan k Laddoo more than motichoor.
Well sweets are weakness of every indian….. thats why we have thousands type of sweets
Really very Interesting and Yummy post is this !
I like sweets and specially jalebi.At Diwali I have eaten many sweets and I think i will not give a try to taste them again soon.
Thanks for the recipe which you shared here.I would like to make them own.
I love motichoor ladoo too. We have this famous temple of Moti Dungri hanesh Ji in Jaipur and I love the prasada there. Indian sweets are class apart and ladoos are on the top of my list along with Aalpua and Rasagullas.
Richa, motichoor ladoos are great. I love them too. Thanks for your comment.
Hello Shalu Mam,
You made me remind the special ladoos from the Siddhivinayak Temple Mumbai..every member of my family brings extra packets of those prasadam ladoos for me whenever they visit siddhivinayak mandir..I remember as a child my mom and aunt used to make those at the time of Ganesh Chaturthi and we all cousins would love to steal one from the ready tray ….
Thanks For sharing….
Regards
Thank you Bhavik for comment. I have not tried the Siddhivinayak Temple Mumbai but hope to do some time.
A definite treat for tourists. Thanks for the recipe. I am going to have to try it myself! 🙂
I have heard great things about these little treats and now it looks like I will have to make some too
I just love motichoor ladoo…when my father or somebody take motichoor ladoo then most of them are eaten by me….I can eat 1kg motichoor ladoo at a time..ha ha ha
I really like Native indian candies. My preferred has always been the ras malai.Just cant get enough of them.When I at the Native indian stores I buy the elegant candies wide range because we cant get them clean.I will try the ladoo, the look delightful.
Ladoo is my favorite one! Its so tasty delicious and everyone likes this recipe very much. Thanks for sharing with us.
Shalu ji your blogs are awesome. My mouth started watering while I was reading your blog. Motichoor laddo made in desi ghee tastes second to only gulab jamuns (made by Qadir Halwai, Allahabad. )
There is nothing better than a box full of Indian Sweets on every occasion and ladoos are one of my favorite! 🙂
Yummy looking !! I love to eat any kinds of sweets food. And here the food are really interesting to me and I can’t wait to try eating this food.
I Like Indian sweets. My favorite has always been the ras malai.Just cant get enough of them.When I at the Indian shops I buy the royal sweets variety because we cant get them fresh.I will try the ladoo, the look delicious
I love this recipes.recently when i have isited india i get a chance to eat it.then learned GHEE present in it has lots of health benefits and in fact better found out it is better that than oil.
Who dont love Indian desserts, isn’t it! Mainly laddoo’s. Motichoor ladoo is one of the favorite Indian sweet recipe for everyone. Thanks a lot for showing making process very clearly.
Wow, this is my favourite. I should try it sometime. Thanks for sharing.
This treat is absolutely mouth-watering. I’ll be watching the video demo for cooking the mootichoor ladoo and hopefully, I could nail the original taste.
very Interesting and Yummy post is this !
I like sweets and specially jalebi.At Diwali I have eaten many sweets and I think i will not give a try to taste them again soon.
Thanks for the recipe which you shared here.I would like to make them own.
Very interesting post. I like motichoor ladoo very much. At time of Diwali, I eat many sweets. Thanks for the recipe