[1][2][3] Archaeological excavations have found "food balls" made of legumes and cereals such as barley, wheat, chickpea and mung bean were consumed in the Indus Valley Civilization circa 2600 BCE.

[4][5] In the 3rd-4th century Sanskrit medical text Sushruta Samhita, ladduka are described as small balls of jaggery, peanuts, and sesame seeds coated with honey.

The 15th-century Indian cookbook Nimatnama-i-Nasiruddin-Shahi gives several recipes for laddus made with white flour, dried fruits, rosewater, camphor, and musk.

[1][6] Motichoor ("crushed pearls" in Hindi)[7] laddu is made from boondi, tiny fried balls of chickpea batter soaked in sugar syrup.

[1][8] Thaggu ke ("Cheat's") laddu is made from khoa (condensed milk), semolina, and white sugar and is a specialty of Kanpur, India.

[1] Shahi (royal) laddu is made from the sweets peda and barfi, which are ground into a paste, mixed with cardamom, dried fruits, and nuts, and formed into balls.

Its earliest form Narayl Nakru dates back to the time of the Chola Empire, when it was a sweet that was packed for travelers and warriors as a symbol of good luck for their expeditions.

[12] An alternative multigrain recipe will have a portion of gum replaced by grains and legume flours such as besan, urid, ragi (nachani in Marathi) and wheat.