Growing up in the Maharashtrian community of Mumbai, during the time of Makar Sankranti, Til gud ladoos (’til’ means sesame seeds and ‘gud’ jaggery in Marathi) was distributed to everyone with these words – Til gud khaya gud gud bola.
If you like nuts, check out this simple Peanut Ladoo Recipe made with minced nuts and jaggery.
Til ke laddu makes a delicious warm meal during the winter. Make them, keep them, and have them whenever you want. The recipe makes 10 to 12 til ke laddu. But you can double or triple it.
Fry sesame seeds
Heat a Kadai or pan and add ⅓ a cup of sesame seeds to it. The pan should not be too hot but a little hot.
In low heat fry the sesame seeds. Stir occasionally.
Sesame seeds appear and change color. At low temperatures, this takes 2 to 3 minutes. You are black.
Once the sesame seeds are well roasted, remove them and place them on a plate.
Then add ¼ cup of peanuts to the same pan. These are raw peanuts and not fried or salted peanuts.
Dry the nuts on low heat and stir frequently until they become a crush and get a few dark spots or blisters on them.
Remove the nuts from the mud pestle. Let them cool down. If you like you can remove the peanut skins by rubbing them between your hands when they are cool.
In the same pan, add ¼ a cup of chopped coconut.
Stir continuously while roasting the coconut.
Roast the coconut until light or golden brown. Turn off the heat.
Add the roasted coconut seeds to the roasted sesame seeds.
When the nuts are cool, crush them into a whisper. You can also grind them in a blender or spice grinder.
Add the groundnuts to the roasted coconut and sesame seeds.
Next, add ¼ teaspoon of cardamom powder.
Mix very well. Set aside.
Making jaggery syrup
In the same pan or the same pan, take ½ cup crushed powdered jaggery or ground jaggery.
Add 3 tablespoons of water.
Store Kadai or pan on the stove at low heat.
Continue to stir the jaggery to melt.
TIP: If the jaggery is dirty, strain the solution and keep the filtered jaggery syrup on the stovetop. I used organic powdered jaggery, so there was no contamination.
On low heat boil the jager with water syrup. It will start to flare up first.
You should continue to cook until you reach a softball stage in a jaggery solution. Keep pushing and not giving up.
To test a softball stage, take water from a small bowl. Put the jaggery solution in the water. Remove it and it should stick and make a softball.
With this harmony of the image below, the softball stage had reached the jaggery syrup.
At this stage, turn off the heat and add the dried roasted mixture of sesame seeds, chopped coconut, groundnuts, and cardamom powder.
Quickly and thoroughly mix the grated mixture with the jaggery solution.
Keep the pan on top of your kitchen or work area.
While the mixture is still hot, start to form and shape the laddu from it. When it is very hot, wait a minute and do laddu.
Lubricate oil or water on your hands to make a ladoo. If you can’t mold when the mixture is too hot,
You can also use a tablespoon of ½ to 1 teaspoon, picking the mixture and making sesame laddu. Then just shape the laddu once you have removed it.
Make laddu when the mixture is hot. if the mixture cools, then til ke laddu cannot be made.
In the last group, fold the sides very well and make til laddu with it.
Make all sesame laddu this way. Store in a non-stick pot at room temperature.
Serve Til Ke Laddu during the Makar Sankranti festival or have them as a delicious snack. You can easily double or triple the recipe and make a large quantity that can be stored in an airtight container for a few weeks.
