The nuts in ladu can include almonds, walnuts, pistachios, cashews and pine nuts — sometimes all of them at once. Each nut brings a different flavour and texture, and the combination toasted together in ghee fills the kitchen with an irresistible smell. Ghee is butter from which all the water has been removed, leaving a rich golden oil with a deep, slightly nutty flavour.
Cardamom is the spice most associated with Kuwaiti sweets and coffee. Its warm, slightly floral flavour is hard to describe but instantly recognisable — once you have smelled cardamom you never forget it. It is used in tiny amounts because it is very strong, but even a little transforms the whole flavour of a sweet or a drink.
Saffron — a brilliant golden spice made from the dried threads of the crocus flower — is one of the most precious spices in the world. It costs more by weight than gold. A tiny pinch colours the ladu golden yellow and gives it a warm, honeyed, slightly earthy taste. The colour and rarity of saffron make it a sign of generosity: if someone adds saffron to their cooking, they are going out of their way to make something special for you.
Making ladu is a social activity. In Kuwait, groups of women traditionally gather in each other's kitchens to make sweets together before big celebrations. They talk, laugh, share stories and divide the work — one toasting nuts, one grinding spices, one shaping the balls. The result is not just sweets but the shared experience of making them.