Til Gul Ladoo is a Makara Sankranti Special Sweet . Sesame seeds and Jaggery are the main ingredients used to make this Ladoo. I have also added dry coconut and roasted peanuts to get extra crunchy and taste. Organic Jaggery powder and regular Sesame seeds are used here . Hence the ladoo's look dark in colour. Nylon til and regular jaggery, gives a light golden colour Ladoo's . Til Gul Ladoo is a Maharashtrian sweet . It is exchanged with family and friends on the day of Sankranti , with a saying " TilGul ghya , goad goad bola " which means " Take TiGul and Speak Sweat " .

Irrespective of region , this harvest festival is celebrated across the country with different names like Makar Sankranti ,Pongal, Bihu , Lohri and Uttarayan . Lohri is essentially a festival dedicated to fire and the sun god. It is the time when the sun transits the zodiac sign Makar (Capricorn), and moves towards the north.

Food & Facts : As it is a traditional time to harvest Sugarcane , Jaggery and sugarcane are widely exchanged on the festive day . Munchies likes Sesame, peanuts , dry coconut along with jaggery are associated with the festival . As it is winter season , sesame , peanut ,dry coconut along with jaggery keeps us warm within . Hence these winter foods are exchanged during this festival.

Other Sankranti Special recipes on blog are : Khara Pongal , Sweet Pongal , Puliyogare , Bisibele Bath and Avarekallu Usali | Vaal Usal

Nutritional Benefits: Sesame is very nutritious . Its calcium and mineral rich, which is great for bones. It reduces inflammation and improves fertility, hence its given to girls when they reach menarche . Also its essential fatty acids are good for cardiovascular health . As its low on GI , improves insulin sensitivity . So adding Til to regular diet , has many health benefits.

RECIPE CARD FOR TILGUL LADOO

Step by Step Directions on making of Til Gul Ladoo:

In a pan or iron griddle ,dry roast ½ cup of regular sesame seeds( cream colour ) on a low heat ,till it starts to crackle. Once it crackles , transfer it to plate and keep it aside. 

In the same pan dry roast ¼ cup peanuts , until peanuts becomes crunchy and gets dark brown spots. Remove from the pan and set it aside to cool.

Again , in the same pan continue to dry roast , ¼ cup of dry coconut on a low heat until it starts to change colour to light golden brown. Turn off the heat and keep it aside to cool.

In a blender / mixer jar , add dry roasted peanut and dry coconut . Just blitz for a 5 seconds to get a coarse powder.

Now take a wide pan ,add sesame seeds , powdered groundnuts and dry coconut .

Add in ¼ tsp elaichi/ cardamom powder ,pinch of nutmeg powder (optional) , ¼ tsp dry ginger powder (optional) and mix well everything and set it aside.

Making Jaggery Syrup:

Take ⅔ cup of jaggery powder in a sauce pan / pot , add 2 tbsp of water  and 1 Tbsp of clarified butter /ghee.

Heat the jaggery mixture on a low  to medium flame , keep stirring the mixture in between. Let it bubble and then it starts to froth.

Now add a drop of jaggery syrup into cold water for testing. If jaggery syrup forms a soft ball , then right consistency has reached. Turn of the heat. It takes about 7-8 minutes.

Mixing and making Ladoos

Now add this jaggery syrup slowly into the already prepared sesame, groundnut mixture and mix well. 

You can also keep pan on a very low heat and mix this with jaggery syrup. So that it becomes easy to mix while maintaining the temperature. Once everything is well mixed ,turn off the heat and keep it aside.

When the mixture is still hot , grease the palm , scoop 1 Tbsp of mixture to  the palm and make balls out of it. Til Gul Ladoo is ready to serve.

Store it in a air tight jars , stays good for 10-15 days .