A little about me
Hi, I’m Janaki
and this is my little story.
I grew up hand-rolling laddoos with my family almost every holiday eve, surrounded by the warm, toasty aroma of flour and nuts browning in ghee. I think back to all the cheerful conversations and sparks of laughter as we shaped hundreds of laddoos by hand, late into the night before a day of shared festivities! My family’s laddoos have tasted like home to me ever since.
When we’d finish rolling laddoos, my mom used to scrape the last of the mix from the bottom of the pan and form one final special, tiny laddoo just for me. That one golden laddoo was the best treat ever! My arms aching and mouth watering, I would look forward to that sweet little moment all night and savor each last bit.
Store-bought laddoos never truly captured that warmth, and often felt too big and sweet to enjoy. As I grew up and started living on my own, I realized just how much we crave a little taste of home from time to time. In 2024, I had a lonely packet of besan and some nuts sitting at the back of my cupboard, and like muscle memory the night before Ganesh Chaturthi (a festival celebrating auspicious beginnings), I decided to try my hand at making laddoos for the first time on my own. As I started portioning out laddoos for one, I had an idea: why not make each one feel like that special golden little laddoo?
My first batch of little laddoos tasted how a warm hug feels, every time I’d sneak one out of the pantry. The round bite-sized shape makes them so fun to eat — and share! Little laddoos became my go-to for every upcoming potluck, and I realized that they brought others as much joy as they did to me. The next Thanksgiving, I had some extra melted dark chocolate from another recipe, and a cheeky box of little laddoos begging to be transformed into something irresistible. That’s when I discovered the chocolate-dipped little laddoo. Sprinkled with a touch of flaky sea salt, these laddoos were all my family was talking about that Thanksgiving.
Over the next year, I iterated on and perfected my recipe. I turned my chocolate dipped laddoos into little laddoo pops for portability. With every new batch, no matter how many I made, they kept disappearing in record time. I realized you can never have too many little laddoos!
This Diwali, I want to share the joy of The Little Laddoo with all of you. I’d love it if you'd follow along and stay tuned for updates!
