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Til (sesame seed) Based Sweets for Sankranti

by: Madhu

In India festival means delicious food. They both go hand in hand. No celebration is complete without some delicious, moth watering, yummy and amazing sweets and food. The first festival of the year is Lohri which a North Indian festival and second festival is the Sankranti popularly known as Makar Sankranti. This festival is celebrated all across the nation with full enthusiasm and fun. In north India the skies are full of marvelous and colorful kites flown by all age groups especially in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Lets have a look at the 5 most popular Sankranti sweets :

Til ke Laddoo
Ingredients: for about 5 - 8 laddoos

1 cup Til

2 cups Jaggery

1/2 cup Peanuts

4 tsp Ghee

1/2 cup Water

Method:

Roast the til dry till it turns slightly brown. Also dry roast the peanuts.

Make powder of both ingredients.

Heat the kadhai for 5 minutes.

Put jaggery with water in a hot kadhai and mix well till it melts.

Now add ghee and the powder. Mix well.

Make laddus from it immediately using greased palms.

Til laddus are ready.

Image credit: http://festivals.iloveindia.com/baisakhi/pics/til-ke-ladoo.jpg

Til Poli
Ingredients:

2 cups White Sesame Seeds (til), cleaned

2 cups Jaggery (gur), grated

1 ½ tsp Cardamom (elaychi) Powder

¼ tsp Nutmeg (jayphal) Powder

1 ½ cups Flour (maida)

Salt, to taste

Oil, for shallow frying

Method:

Rub in oil and salt to the flour and knead it to form dough.

Cover the dough with a moist cloth, to keep it soft.

Dry roast the sesame seeds, till they turn golden brown.

When they cool down, pound them coarsely.

Add in the grated jaggery and pound once again, to make the mixture even and smooth.

Mix in the cardamom and nutmeg powders.

Form small balls from the kneaded dough.

Make a hole in the ball and fill it with a teaspoon of sesame seed mixture.

Pull up the sides and seal the ball. Repeat with other balls.

Oil a rolling board and place a stuffed ball on it.

Roll out the ball into a thin round disk. Repeat with other balls.

Shallow fry the disks, till they turn golden brown and become crisp.

Serve hot.

Image credit: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1427/1358722726_c876554828.jpg

Til Papdi
Ingredients:

200 gms White sesame seeds

5 Pistachios, thinly sliced

150 gms Sugar

Method:

Roast sesame seeds lightly and leave aside.

Melt sugar in a small pan.

Add roasted sesame seeds and mix well.

Keep this pan in a large bowl of hot water.

Take small portion of this mixture at a time.

Make it flat with the help of a rolling pin.

Sprinkle with few slices of pista on top.

Roll quickly. You can smear rolling pin, palms and work surface slightly.

Transfer the role to a clean plastic sheet. Allow it to cool.

Separate the papdis with squares of plastic.

Cool and place in an airtight container.

Image credit: http://www.maniarrs.com/product-photo/pr-seasam-chiki.jpg

Til Burfi
Ingredients:

1 cup Til (sesame seed)

1 can Condensed Milk

1/2 stick Butter

1 cup Milk Powder

1 cup Jaggery

Method:

Roast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet.

Grind them coarsely in a blender.

Now heat the jaggery in a thick bottomed vessel till it melts completely.

Mix all the ingredients along with grounded sesame seeds in a glass dish.

Microwave the mixture for about 3 minutes.

Grease a tray with butter and leave aside.

Stir the mixture properly and microwave again for 3 minutes.

Remove it when bubbling starts.

Stir till it becomes thick.

Spread the mixture on greased tray.

Cut in squares when cool.

Til Burfi is ready.

Image credit: http://lifestyle.indiainfo.com/2008/01/12/images/til_burfi_recipe_4001.jpg

Til Vadi
Ingredients:

3 tbs Roasted Til (Sesame Seeds)

2 tbs Shredded Jaggery (Gur) or Sugar

Ghee

Method:

Take jaggery or sugar in a kadhai. Put kadhai on gas.

Add small amount of ghee.

Stir it. Let jaggery or sugar melt.

When jaggery or sugar melts remove kadhai from gas and add roasted sesame seeds. Mix it well.

Grease some ghee to clean kitchen counter or glass cutting board or cookie sheet & rolling pin. 6. As sugar or jaggery immediately become hard, quickly put that mixture on previously greased cutting board.

Roll that mixture immediately before it cools.

Cut them into square before it cools.

Store them in air -tight container.

Note: As sugar/ jaggery immediately become hard, you have to make this vadi in small quantity at a time. For a variation you can add ground roasted peanuts. Don't add water.

Image credit: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3260/3201660266_1610319296.jpg