Makar Sankrant is right around the corner and it is time to prepare Teel Gul Ladoo. The celebration of this festival is incomplete without Teel Gul Ladoo. In Maharashtra, Sankranti is celebrated by exchanging Teel Gul Ladoos prepared using sesame seeds and jaggery.
Sankrant is a Hindu festival celebrated in the month of January. It marks the first day of transition of sun in to the new zodiac sign of Capricorn (which is Makar rashi in Hindi and hence the name). The sun now moves towards north and the journey is called Uttarayan. The day slowly starts getting longer and warmer. It is also a festival to celebrate the harvest season.
My friend recently forwarded an email from Saratoga Hindu Temple which had good information about this festival. putting what R. Kumar has mentioned in that email in my words- Sesame seeds have very high calcium content (975 mg per 110 g). Calcium helps build bones but our body needs Vitamin D to absorb Calcium effectively. Vitamin D is made by our body naturally with sunlight. Our body is capable of getting its Vitamin D reserve full with 3 full days of sunlight. Best quality of sunlight is at end of winter and beginning of summer. So our wise Sages of ancient India created a festival of flying kites which encourages kids and elders to spend whole day outside in sun and moms feed their families with these Teel Ladoos which are full of Calcium! So eat these ladoos and spend some time outdoors in sun to get strong bones!
There are many different recipes to prepare Teel Gul. This one is our family favorite though and hence sharing this recipe first. These ladoos are soft, yummy and very easy to make!
Ingredients-
Teel/ Sesame seeds- 1 and 3/4 cup (preferably brown sesame seeds)
Jaggery- 1 and 1/2 cup (lightly filled cups)
Ghee/ Clarified butter- 1 tablespoon
Cardamom powder- 1 teaspoon
- Heat a broad based pan or a kadhai on a low flame.
- Add 1 and 1/2 cups of sesame seeds and roast for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring continuously so that sesame seeds don't start burning.
- After roasting for 4-5 minutes, you will notice lightness in the sesame seeds and even the color will change. Once the seeds are nicely roasted, remove them in a separate plate and let them cool down completely.
- Now heat the same pan again and add the remaining 1/4 cup sesame seeds and roast lightly on low flame for just a minute. We don't want the seeds to change their color as the difference in the color of roasted sesame seeds powder and these seeds which we will add as whole will give a nice look to our ladoos.
- Remove the seeds after roasting them for just a minute in separate plate and set them aside as we are not going to grin them.
- Now grind the 1 and 1/2 cups of sesame seeds we had roasted in to a coarse powder.
- Now add this sesame seed powder in a food processor bowl and add 1 teaspoon cardamom powder and pulse it a few times.
- Then add 1 and half cups of lightly packed jaggery and pulse it a few times so that jaggery gets mixed with the sesame seeds powder properly. You can adjust the quantity of jaggery as per your liking.
- Once the jaggery has mixed up well, grind the sesame seeds powder and jaggery together for at least half a minute. The heat generated during this grinding process will bind the sesame seeds powder and jaggery together.
- Open the processor and add 1 tablespoon ghee/ clarified butter.
- Grind/ process it together again for 30-40 seconds.
- Now remove this mix in to a bowl and take a small part of the mix and roll it in to a ball. Gently roll it between your palms to get smooth ladoos. Prepare all the ladoos in same way with the remaining sesame mix.
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