A controversy has arisen over the Prasad of the world famous Tirupati Balaji of Andhra Pradesh. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has alleged, citing a report, that the ghee used to make Mahaprasadam in the previous Jaganmohan Reddy government was adulterated with cow fat and pig lard. TDP has accused the YSR Congress of hurting the faith and belief of Hindus. A report confirmed that the ghee used to make laddus was not pure and cow fat was mixed in it. Let us tell you that these special Prasad laddus are prepared in the kitchen of the temple itself, which are called Pottu.
How to make Tirupati Laddoo
The process of making Mahaprasad laddu is known as ‘dittam’. All the ingredients are added in it in a specific quantity. In the history of 300 years, its recipe has been changed only six times. According to the report of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Board in 2016, this laddu has a divine fragrance. First, boondi is prepared from gram flour and gram flour. Jaggery syrup is used to protect the laddu from spoiling. After this, amla, cashew and raisins are added to it and laddus are prepared by binding. Ghee is used to make boondi.
Three lakh laddus are made every day
According to the report of Times of India, TTD makes about 3 lakh laddus every day. The board earns about 500 crore rupees from laddus in a year. It is said that laddus are being made continuously for Prasad since 1715. Tirupati laddu also got GI tag in 2014. Now no one else can sell laddus by this name. These laddus contain sufficient amount of sugar, cashews and raisins. The weight of one laddu is about 175 grams.
During a lab test in July, it was found that the ghee used in these laddus contained some external fat. After this, TTD blacklisted the contractor and started taking ghee from Karnataka Milk Federation. TTD used to pay Rs 320 for one kg of ghee. Whereas ghee from the new Ghee had to be bought for Rs 475. Now TDP has made this report public and said that beef fat and pig fat were being used in the ghee of laddus. Apart from this, fish oil was also present in it.
On July 23, an investigation was conducted after complaints were received about the taste of the laddu. The presence of coconut, cotton seed and mustard oil was also detected in it. The TDP government had appointed a senior IAS officer as the executive officer of TTD in June.