Leibak hawai heingan

Sweet and crunchy leibak hawai heingan are slabs of sugar with leibak hawai (groundnuts) embedded in them. The crunchiness of the nuts perfectly complements the sweetness.

They bring back sweet memories of childhood when i used to tag along when Ema went to the keithel (market). It was a treat when she bought the goodies from the ‘abok‘ (grandmother) selling them in glass jars neatly arranged in a row.

Laloo

Yes, you read it right. It is laloo and not ladoo. This is what i consider the Manipuri version of the Indian sweet ladoo. It is made from kabok afaba (unsalted puffed rice) and chuhi (molasses). The kabok is pounded into a coarse powder and mixed with chuhi diluted with water (as a binding factor) and shaped into balls.

Laloo is used as an offering during religious and other ceremonies.

i  remembering almost choking whenever i ate this as a kid because it tends to stick to your throat.

Special thanks goes to Ema for the ‘research’ on how it is made and for buying the laloo to be photographed and to Chema for the beautiful photograph!