Tilache Ladu recipe for Sankrant | How to make Sesame seed Ladoo for Sankranti

2014-01-10

Cuisine: Indian
Course: Dessert
Skill Level: Expert
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Servings : 15-20
Prep Time : 10m
Cook Time : 10m

Makar Sankranti is the only Hindu festival that is celebrated on a fixed day- on the 14th of January, unlike everything else that follows the lunar calendar.

It is also the day when people dissolve their differences and try to make peace. People exchange these crunchy ladus made with white sesame seeds and jaggery and say ‘Til gul ghya, goad goad bola’ which literally means- ‘ have these til laddus and talk sweetly’

My most fond memories of Sankrant, however, are flying kites. In Maharashtra and Gujrat, flying kites specially on this day is very popular-the sky is full of kites, big and small.

And, then of course, the tilache ladu. Sankrant doesn’t quite seem the same without the two.

Ingredients

White Sesame Seeds- 500 gm
Jaggery (aka Chikkicha Gul in Marathi), best quality- 500 gm
Roasted Peanuts coarsely powdered- 1 cup
Dry Coconut- grated and roasted- 1/2 cup
Roasted gram dal- 1/2 cup (optional)
Cardamom powder- 1/4 tsp (optional)
Ghee- 2 tbsp

20130119-Tilache ladu

Method

Step 1

Roast til on a hot wok till golden brown. Grate and roast the coconut till crisp, not brown.

Step 2

In other pan, melt the jaggery. If you can't get the special Chikki jaggery, try using normal jaggery. ALthough it won;t taste the same, it will do. Can't have Sankrant without tilache ladu, can we?

Step 3

After some time, it will start boiling. Test the jaggery by droping a bit of it into cold water to cool it down. It will form a soft ball. If you remove the ball from water, it will flatten like a pancake after a few moments in your hand. Sesame Laddus are made using the jaggery in this soft can't-hold-its-shape-soft stage.

Step 4

Add the roasted Sesame seeds,peanuts, roasted dry coconut, roasted Chana Dal and cardamom powder. Mix well.

Step 5

Grease hands with some Ghee and make laddus while the mixture is hot. The ghee will prevent the hot mixture from sticking to the hands. Take a big spoonful of the mixture on a clean plate (this helps in easy cooling) & keep the remaining tightly closed (this mixture gets hard very soon, so need to keep it covered all the time).

Step 6

Shape the mixture into 1 inch round laddus while mixture is still hot. If it gets cold, the jaggery will harden and then the laddus can;t be rolled. So be quick :). If the mixture does get cold, put it again on high heat to melt the jaggery and then make laddus from the remaining mixture.

For more Maharshtrian recipes:

Sabudana Khichdi Step by step Puranpoli

Bhajani Thalipith- Maharashtrian Shrikhand- a step by step recipe