Til Ladoo or Tilgul Ladoo or Sesame Seed Ladoo is a Sankranti special sweet from Maharashtra. A traditional sweet made with sesame and jaggery to heat the body during the winter months.
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 .
What is Tilgul
Til gul is a sweet made with ’ til’ - Sesame and ’ Gul’ - Jaggery . I made it 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-law’s yearly ceremony.
I really wanted to make it something 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 are heat-producing. In the 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 minutes Cooking time - 15 minutes Difficulty level - easy
Ingredients to make Til Ladoo - Makes about 18 small ladoos
- Sesame seeds (white) - 1 cup
- Jaggery - ¾ cup
- Cardamom 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 a few minutes in low heat until they slightly change color and become 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 softball 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 an airtight container.
More Recipes With Sesame
- Honey Toasted Paneer / Tofu With Sesame Seeds
- Tilachi Chutney | Sesame Seeds Chutney Powder
- Ellu Podi Sadam | Spiced Sesame Seed Powder | Spiced Sesame Rice
- Chinese Peanut Sesame Ginger Brittle
Recipe
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 cup Sesame seeds white
- ▢ ¾ cup Jaggery
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder optional
- ▢ 2 teaspoon Ghee plus a little to grease the palm
Instructions
- 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 the Til Ladoo in a airtight container
Nutrition
More Pongal / Makara Sankranthi Recipes
- Vellam Sadam | Sweet Jaggery Rice
- Aama Vadai | Paruppu Vadai | Chana Dal Vada
- Payatham Urundai | Moong Dal Ladoo | Pasi Paruppu Laddu
- Carrot Kheer | Carrot Payasam
Til Ladoo | Tilgul Ladoo | Sesame Seed Ladoo
Ingredients
- 1 cup Sesame seeds white
- ¾ cup Jaggery
- ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder optional
- 2 teaspoon Ghee plus a little to grease the palm
Instructions
- 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 the Til Ladoo in a airtight container
