Til Ladoo or Tilgul Ladoo or Sesame Seed Ladoo, is a special Maharashtrian sweet made on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. It is a delicious dessert made with essentially just 2 ingredients. I have added a little bit of cardamom powder for flavor, but it is totally up to your preference to add it or skip it. There is a famous saying in Maharashtra that goes along with this ladoo - ‘Tilgul Ghya God God Bola’, which means Eat Tilgul and talk sweetly. So saying these sweet words, Til Ladoo is distributed to neighbors and friends on Makar Sankrati. Makar Sankranti is celebrated through India by different names such as Lohri in Northern India, Sukarat in Central India and Pongal in Southern India. To read more about recipes in South India, read my post on Pongal recipes.
What is Tilgul
Til gul is a sweet made with ’til’ - Sesame and ‘Gul’ - Jaggery. I made with white sesame as in our culture, black sesame is made only during the ‘Shraadh’ - homage to ancestors. My husband loves the ellu urundai (til ladoo) made with black sesame that I make during my father-in-laws yearly ceremony. I really wanted to make it sometime else for him and when I learned that this was a traditional sweet made during Sankranti. I took the opportunity and made it. There is also another reason for making Til Ladoo | Tilgul Ladoo | Sesame Seed Ladoo during Sankranti. It is winter and sesame and jaggery is heat producing. In olden days, when there were no external heaters, people consumed food that produced heat in the body. If you are not a fan of whole sesame in ladoo, then take a look at my Sesame balls recipe. I have used ground sesame and jaggery to make this smooth ladoo and is very simple to make. Preparation time - 5 minutesCooking time - 15 minutesDifficulty level - easy
Ingredients to make Til Ladoo - Makes about 18 small ladoos
Sesame seeds (white) - 1 cupJaggery - ¾ cupCardamom powder - ¼ teaspoon (optional)Ghee - 2 teaspoon plus a little to grease the palm
Procedure -
Heat a heavy bottom pan and add the sesame seeds to it. Roast the seeds for few minutes in low heat until it slightly changes color and becomes aromatic. You will also notice that the seeds start crackling at this stage.
Remove the roasted sesame seed on a plate and in the same pan, add the ghee and jaggery. I used a good quality paagu vellam (jaggery perfect to make syrup) to make the ladoo.
Once the jaggery dissolves and starts to bubble up, cook it for 2 minutes until it forms a soft ball stage. This is a stage when a small drop of syrup is poured in cold water, it forms a soft ball when rolled between fingers.
Reduce the flame to low and add the roasted sesame seeds to the syrup. Mix well and remove from flame.
Remove the mixture in a bowl and let it cool down a little.
Grease your palm with ghee and start making small balls with the mixture. Do not wait until the mixture cools down completely or else it will be hard to make balls.
Store them in a airtight container.
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