Katlu is traditional food prepared to supplement the nutritional needs of women during the postnatal period and induce lactation.
India has very rich and diverse food traditions, the women of generations before us have designed some ingenious food traditions for both our regular as well as special needs. I am sure each region has a traditional way of caring and looking after the women in their postpartum period. Katlu is the Gujarati way of nourishing the nursing mothers as well as the infant. This rich preparation made with an exhaustive list of ingredients is a true labour of love. Ghee, kopra (dry coconut), gond, almonds, khus khus and a mix called Batrisu (Batris means 32 in Gujarati) that includes 32 herbs and spices are used liberally in this body warming preparation. Desi Gunder or resin from Babul tree has tremendous healing properties. Believed to warm the body as well as cure postpartum backache, gunder is added in Raab, Sukhdi, Halwa and Milk prepared for nursing mothers. Sooth and Piprimul have body warming properties, while dill seeds, khus khus and dry coconut promote lactation. Ghee raves up metabolism and strengthens bones. All these super and wonder foods come together in Katlu.
Utmost care is taken in preparing these ladoos which are usually made in kilos by mothers and grandmothers for their daughters. Containers full of Katlu arrive on a special day after birth. The family takes care not to return the katlu containers empty. One or two ladoos are intentionally left behind in the katlu carrying dabba/container. Last month I was on a short and sudden trip to Ahmedabad and decided to ask my taiji/kaki/ paternal aunt to share her katlu and Aatho (coming up next) recipes for the blog. She is the one who made several kilos of Katlu and Aatho for me when I was nursing my twin daughters. These are some classic traditions and recipes to be cherished and enjoyed generously. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to enjoy these foods. It brings so much joy to document and share these recipes with you all.
Katlu- ladoo for new mothers
Ingredients
- 1 kilogram jaggery, grated
- 1+1/4 kilograms ghee/clarified butter
- 1 kilogram whole wheat flour, coarsely ground
- 2 shells of dry coconut/suka copra ni kachli
- 100 grams suva dana/dried dill seeds
- 250 grams edible gum granules/gond/kani walo deshi gunder
- 250 grams almonds, roughly chopped/sliced
- 100 grams Katlu powder/ batrisu powder
- 100 grams peepramul powder/ganthoda powder
- 100 grams dried ginger powder/sooth
- 100 grams poppy seeds/khus khus
- 1 nutmeg, freshly grated
Instructions
To begin with make sure you have all your ingredients in place.
Prepare the dry coconut by grating one shell and finely chopping the other.
Take a large heavy bottom kadai/wok and place it on medium flame.
Add all the ghee to the Kadai.
Once the ghee melts add the edible gum and fry till it pops up.
Remove the fried gum and roughly crush it using back of a flat bowl or pastel.
If you like you can fry the roughly chopped almonds in the same ghee. Be careful not to burn it.
Now add all the flour to the ghee and fry/roast it until light brown in colour.
Keep stirring continuously.
You will notice that the ghee-flour mixture has turned light and emits a very pleasant aroma when done.
Remove from flame, stirring continuously add the grated jaggery, mix well till the jaggery has completely dissolved.
Now add rest of the ingredients including the fried gond one at a time. Mix well after each addition.
Begin shaping the mixture in lime or ping-pong ball sized ladoo.
Arrange them on a thali and once they cool store in air tight containers.
Nursing mothers may eat 2-3 ladoo in a day.
Notes
If you do not have time on hand and don't wish to make ladoos, spread the mix in greased thalis/pan like you would spread fudge mix. Once the mix begins to set cut them in squares and store in air tight container.
21 Comments
Hemu Aggarwal
May 24, 2019 at 4:02 amThis is a fabulous treasure which I found accidentally. The information given here are rare and extremely useful. I reside in U.S.A. and has always tried to find the richness and effectiveness in Indian herbs, spices, and recipes like this Katlu. Great work.
Sheetal
June 8, 2019 at 9:00 amHemuben, thank you for stopping by and such encouraing feed back. The rich tapestry of our regional cuisines is underappreciated, it is time we value it .
Prati
January 6, 2020 at 12:48 pmLoved reading your blog. I was researching about Kaatlu and your blog popped up. So glad I found your website 🙂
Sheetal
January 17, 2020 at 8:22 amHello Prati,
Glad the blog showed up. Katlu has been a much loved recipe on the blog. Thank you so much for writing in. Hope you keep enjoying the space.
Smita-Thaker
July 5, 2019 at 12:36 amA very useful blog
Sheetal
July 8, 2019 at 4:11 pmThank you Smita.
Afroz Giblett
September 11, 2019 at 12:59 amHello Sheetal
Wonderful blog! my mother used to make the batrisu powder at home and I have often wondered what the ingredients are translated into english. Do you happen to have the complete list of the 32 Ingredients? if you do have it can you please share it.
Thank you so much
Afroz
Sheetal
October 10, 2019 at 6:59 amHey Afroz,
Thank you so much. Yes Batrisu is a very popular winter masala. Goes in most winter pak and fudge we make. These days a premixed powder is readily available at the shops selling traditional herbs. Will do a blog post for it for sure, along with the list of 32 herbs and spices that go in it.
Regards,
Sheetal
Dina
September 12, 2019 at 7:15 pmI was looking for a katlu recipe for my daughter and accidentally found this one. I am going to go with your recipe as so far this is so simple to follow.
Sheetal
October 10, 2019 at 6:56 amYes, it is a pretty simple recipe once the ingredients are in place. Hope you tried it and your daughter loved it!! Thank you for stopping by.
Soniya
November 10, 2019 at 3:32 pmSheetal thanks for this wonderful recipe. I delivered my baby few days ago and was looking for Batrisu benefits and came across ur site!! Am definitely going to add this to my diet😊
Kali
February 16, 2020 at 1:42 amHello, how can I make this recipe without wheat flour? It needs to be gluten free.
Sheetal
February 16, 2020 at 9:12 pmHey,
you can try mix of bajra and jowar flours. If you are staying outside India try it with Gluten free flour mix. However, I am not sure about the change in its medicinal properties when the flour is changed to GF.
Nina
August 15, 2020 at 9:33 pmHello Sheetal
Love your traditional recipes .
What if the katlu does not set and is crumbly? How do I fix it? Thank you
Sheetal
August 22, 2020 at 6:17 amHello Nina,
Set it as Sukhdi, I don’t see any issues in its setting if you have followed this recipe to the T. Yes, it does take a while to shape it as laddoo but it comes together well.
neily hemnani
August 24, 2020 at 6:52 pmHu ghana time thi katlu ni recipe shodhi rahi hati. Thanks to you sheetal ke mane aa recipe mali.
Veri nice recipe.
God bless you and your family sheetal.
Our Breastfeeding Journey - Swati Vijayan
September 18, 2020 at 5:02 pm[…] I loved eating gondh laddoos after my delivery. It is called Katlu in Gujrati. Even though I felt they were a tad heavy on my stomach, I loved how nutritious the laddoos were. Those laddoos were a blessing during the midnight / early morning hunger pangs. My mother-in-law got it made for me from Baroda and they tasted so good. A similar recipe is here. […]
Krish
December 14, 2020 at 2:58 pmAre there any other names for Katlu?
Sheetal
December 17, 2020 at 2:42 pmNot really, some winter warming foods are also called Katlu.
Shairoz Rupani
June 26, 2023 at 11:41 pmHow long should a mother eat the katlu for?
Sheetal
June 27, 2023 at 6:58 amAs long as you would wish to, I was nursing twins and had them till a year. They make very good energy food so no harm in eating them even if you are not brestfeeding.