TilGul (Sesame seeds Jaggery sweet)

Tomorrow i.e. 14th January is an auspicious day of Makar Sankranti and Pongal festival. Sankranti is a day when Sun makes a transition to Capricorn (Makar) sign. Days will start getting longer and warmer now.  This day marks as a beginning of auspicious time in Hindu culture. This is a major harvest festival in India.

Wishing all of you a very Happy Sankranti and Pongal!! 

But my Sankranti wishes are incomplete without Tilgul. Tilgul is a sweet prepared from Sesame seeds and Jaggery. This is a day when tilgul is exchanged among friends saying "Tilgul ghya ani god god bola". Literally this  means "Take tilgul and speak sweet". True meaning behind this saying is to forget all the resentment we may have and being sweet with everybody. This is a day to strengthen the bond of friendship.

So all my dear friends, very warm wishes to all of you on Sankranti! Let our friendship become stronger and sweeter always!! Tilgul ghya ani god god bola!!!

Ingredients:

1 cup white sesame seeds
1 cup grated jaggery
1/4 cup groundnuts powder
3 tbsp shredded dry coconut
1 tbsp ghee

Method:

1. Dry roast sesame seeds on medium heat till they turn golden in color.
2. Grind sesame seeds to coarse powder.
3. Grease plate with ghee and keep aside.
4. In deep kadhai add jaggery, 2 tbsp water and 1 tbsp ghee.
5. Heat it on low-medium flame till jaggery melts. Keep stirring continuously.
6. When jaggery melts completely lower the heat to minimum. Add sesame seeds and groundnut powder immediately.
7. Mix this properly till nice lump is formed. As soon as lump is formed switch off the heat.
8. Put this lump on plate which we have greased earlier. Apply ghee to your palms and pat this lump to flatten it evenly. We need to do this when mixture is hot so take care of your hands by applying ghee nicely. Or you can use flat surface of katori to pat.
9. Once you flattened the mixture, spread shredded coconut on surface immediately. This way as the surface is hot, coconut sticks to it.
10. Immediately, mark out the pieces in square shape with knife. Take out pieces when they cool down completely.

Enjoy this sweet tilgul and make your Sankranti festival sweeter.

This is my entry to Priya's Cooking with seeds-Sesame seeds event.


Preparation time: 30 minutes