Monday, January 30, 2012

Til gud, Tilgul, Til ka laddoo or Til ki chikki | the desi Sesame brittle with loads of ginger



Til ki chikki is one winter treat I always look forward to. And I amke it minimally sweet just as my dadi used to make them. Yes, this is one sweet treat where you don't have to worry about the portion size at all. The sweetening is so minimal and that too with natural brown sugar or jaggery, that it's just a hint of sweet and you get a rich nutty taste of sesame all the way. A rich taste that satiates big time.

Til ki chikki (sesame brittle)

This recipe always brings back memories of my grandmother. She used to make huge quantities of this Til ke laddoo and it used to be the happiest of the times. My mother never made these but I used to watch my grandmother make them perfectly year after years, roasting the sesame, bubbling the jaggery and then mixing them together before binding them into laddoos (balls) which was the toughest task as the hot mixture would hurt the palms and the sticky nature of hot jaggery would make it really difficult to roll the balls. She would wet her hands in cold water n make small balls tirelessly. She was the most happy when she made such treats for us. Worth mentioning that she lived a hundred and six years all because of healthy food, active life and a very positive attitude towards life that she had. Fond memories.

til ka laddu

I started making these laddoos as soon as a started missing them in winters. That was just after we got married 13 years ago. The husband loves all types of sesame and jaggery preparations going by the names like Gajak from western UP, Til ki patti from eastern UP, Tilkut from Bihar and Tilgul from Maharshtra and Til-mungfali ki patti found all over the country I guess. He used to bring home all such sesame brittle in large quantities and I would always tell him they were not good as I had tasted better things at home.

Til ki chikki (sesame brittle)

As a new homemaker I was a bit apprehensive to try such a difficult looking recipe but my craving for that nostalgic taste and the husband's love for everything Til and Gud made me try this in my own little kitchen. The first attempt was not that great as I could not bind the balls perfectly and almost half of the mixture got cold and had to be eaten like a crumble. The taste was perfect as I have an innate sense of bringing the  flavors right. After a little practice I learnt how to bind the balls well and what else to do when  want to save time. I started making bars with the mixture.

ingredients...

500 gm white sesame
200-250 gm jaggery (I use 200 gm or even less)
2-3 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger root
1 tbsp of plain water (sometimes I even use about 100 ml water and cook the syrup longer*)
ghee to grease the baking tray or plate

procedure...

Dry roast the sesame in a pan on low to medium flame, stirring it all the while. It will be ready in about 10 minutes or as soon as a nutty aroma starts emanating and the color of the white sesame turns a nice golden brown.

Now mix the grated or curled (using a paring knife) jaggery and grated ginger in a heavy pan or kadhai. I use a trusted iron kadhai or a thick base aluminium one for this.
If the jaggery is in small pieces it can be used directly.

Til ki chikki (sesame brittle)

Heat these ingredients on high flame with just a tbsp of water and watch the melting of jaggery. The jaggery and ginger mix would cook together, first melting to make a syrup and then bubbling to become a frothy mass.See the picture to get an idea. the mixture gets frothy and smells of caramel and ginger. Looks glossy and makes a string when you drop it through the spatula.


This is the time when you have to tip in all the roasted sesame to it and mix quickly so every grain of sesame is coated with the sticky syrup of jaggery. It is quite an easy thing to do as the minute seeds of sesame get mixed really well. This has to be done quickly and then is the time to either wet your hands with chilled water and shape small balls with the medium hot mixture or to make bars with it.

If you find it difficult to shape balls you can always grease a baking tray or plate with ghee and spread this mixture over it evenly. Press the mixture firmly and smoothen it using a cold and greased knife so it becomes smooth. Here I used a silpat lined baking tray and pressed it using a wooden block. Use butter paper for lining the tray or plate for convenience.

Let the brittle cool down completely, invert on a wooden work surface, peel of the silpat (or butter paper) and cut in desired shapes, using a sturdy knife.


Til ki chikki (sesame brittle)

 It makes a really tasty and healthy sweet treat even if it doesn't bind well into bars or balls. You can enjoy it like a loose crumble. As it is or sprinkled over your oatmeal or any other porridge breakfast.

It is a typical winter delicacy. Made mostly during Makar Sankranti...but can be enjoyed all through winters.

Binding the sesame seeds with minimal quantity if jaggery needs a lot of practice but it's worth practicing this. It is not a very time consuming process if you make a small quantity like this. Took me half an hour to make a dozen balls and nine huge bars this time.

A new learner might need some more time and may be some more jaggery to start with. You can use as much jaggery as you want. Going up to equal to sesame.


Til ki chikki (sesame brittle)


I wrap these bars or squares in butter paper if we are traveling during winters as it makes a nice snack while walking and shopping.... peeling off the butter paper and smelling these bars makes one hungry at once. 

Posting this recipe while we are still enjoying our winters so you can try if still wanting to get a healthy Calcium and iron boost. This is essentially winter food , rich and nutritious.

Sesame is nourishing food. Include it in curries if you don't do it already. Or make chutneys with it.

34 comments:

  1. I love .... these sesame ladoos. My mom used to make it without making the jaggery syrup. I did make the same way on this lohri. I am all with you on including sesame in curries and chutneys. Nuts and seeds are my weakness.

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    1. Yes Balvinder , the raw jaggery recipe was used for the black sesame in my home and some ghee was also added in that one. That tastes quite different. I shall post that recipe too very soon.

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  2. Dear sangeeta
    very nice recipe. Never tried ginger in this recipe. I am tired of eating the ones available in market. One of these days will try. But will used partly de-husked black sesame. Also waiting for dark brown pure Gur. I dont like the bleached ones available in the market. I think they add lot of Sodium dithionate for bleaching. In Sugar bleaching , it is not a problem but in Gur some residual remains , not sure.
    Have a nice week

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    1. Yes that bleached gud is not good. I used Dhampure jaggery and I find that one quite good.

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  3. 106 years!!! that is amazing!!! it's impossible to live that long today, considering the kinda lifestyle we all lead!!!
    and hey, very well made bars & balls.
    I had asked my mom before sankranti how to make these, but she said it's too complicated, will have to work real quick when it's hot/warm, so forget it & just buy from store, hehe!

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    1. Nish My grandmother lived in today's world only...her eating habits were old fashioned though. Even my eating habits are old fashioned if off the shelf food coming out of shiny packets is today's food :-)

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  4. Awesome loookin til patti & ladoo....... I too miss my Mom's til ke ladoo all the time.......feel like makin them right now.

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  5. simply superb...i'm drooling over here.

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  6. Awesome !!! We call it the "Ellurundai" - Ellu - til and urundai means round. One of my fav foods all thru the year. :) My mom makes it so yumm. :)

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    1. Welcome to the blog Uma...got another name for this treat. Til ka laddoo is Ellurundai too :-)

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  7. Tried this seasame ladoo couple of time,but never get a perfect one!!I feel,making ladoo in palm is difficult to me..here u gave a great idea!!Making a seasame bars..Thanks!!Yours looks soo yum..perfect!!

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  8. Lovely : I always think that all these gachaks and ladoos are our desi granola bars .
    I chuck in roasted ragi,moongphali and flax,grated nariyal ,khajoor also along with til and of course at least one third of ghee as the seeds.Nourishing and yummy. Tell me Sangeeta what is the difference between Yam and tapioca? What is it called in hindi?

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    1. Yes Varsha, these are our own desi granola bars and we can have it at affordable costs (just think about the carbon footprint the imported ones come with). I do not mix everything together mostly because I love variety and making them separately and differently gives me wider range of taste......
      a foodie speaking ;-)
      The flax seed laddoo is made with cocpnut and is coming soon on this space too.

      Yam is a group of vegetables which includes our zaminkand, arbi and kachalu etc. There are many types of Yams available in India, the Gujrati purple yam I have never seen till now although all shapes and sizes have been grown and analysed in the past ;-)
      Tapioca is also an underground tuber which the Malyali call Kappa , I don't know a hindi name as it's not grown in hindi heartland probably. I have seen it being sold in INA market here and have got tempted many time to buy and experiment. The make chips from it and the flour is a great way to go gluten free even in cakes.

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  9. Til ka loddo looks perfect and delicious..

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  10. the til ladoos look good. it reminds of the til gul and til laddos made and shared during sankranti in mumbai.... i had a lot of maharashtrian neighbors and would get different varieities of til gul :-)

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  11. Hello fellow Indian blogger! This sesame tikki is my favorite! Love that you used jaggery, an unrefined sweetener!

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  12. So yummy looking these are. I haven't tried these at home. hopefully, as usual, you would inspire me to.

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  13. Wonderful balls Sangeeta.. I have tried it with peanuts but never alone, will surely gonna make this next time..

    Thnx for sharing .. :)

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  14. Hi Sangeeta...you brought the memories back. I remember that til laddu was integral part of every winter.lovely!

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  15. I love this and add ginger to my til laddu or chikki too! Sometimes I mix the black and while sesame seeds with a few crushed peanuts. Now I am inspired to make some, I haven't made these in a while!
    Thanks

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    1. Thanks. Even I make them mixed up many times. Coconut flakes also taste great when mixed up with this ..

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  16. Hi Sangeeta, Till ka Ladoo or as we Bongs call it till er ladoo is such an integral part of winters in India! Love the name of your blog. I am preassuming you are from Banaras. I love Banaras...been there 6/7 times and can still go for another visit :-)
    Cheers,
    Suchi

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    1. Yes I am from Banaras Suchi.
      Glad to know you are in love with the city and it's food.
      Thank you for a generous comment :-)

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  17. So yummy looking laddus........Thanx for sharing ...n u have a nice space with tatsy recipes.........

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    1. Glad you liked it Maha. Thanks for dropping by.

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  18. How did I miss this? The tips on cooking the jaggery and ginger was helpful Sangeeta; makes it very tempting to start off! :-)

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  19. Sangeeta,
    Linking this post of yours in my next blog-post..Hope this is fine with you..How are you ? hugs and smiles

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  20. Ladoos turned out sticky. What cud be the reason

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    1. Did you add more water to the gud ki chashni? There wouldn't be any other reason as Much I know.

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  21. I added one tablespoon water to gud n ginger mixture. I cooked it for less time than required..cud be the reason ?

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    1. Yes cooking the jaggery syrup till sticky is the key..

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