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.
Makar Sankranti is celebrated through India by different names such as Lohri in Northern India, Sukarat in Central India and Pongal in Southern India. To read more about recipes in South India, read my post on Pongal recipes.
What is Tilgul
Til gul is a sweet made with 'til' - Sesame and 'Gul' - Jaggery. I made 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-laws yearly ceremony.
I really wanted to make it sometime 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 is heat producing. In 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 tsp (optional)
- Ghee - 2 tsp plus a little to grease the palm
Procedure -
- 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 them in a airtight container.
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Til Ladoo | Tilgul Ladoo | Sesame Seed Ladoo
Ingredients
- 1 cup Sesame seeds white
- ¾ cup Jaggery
- ¼ tsp Cardamom powder optional
- 2 tsp 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
Sapna Maheshwari says
Do we not add water to make the jaggerybsyrup ?
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Hi Sapna, we don't really need any water. This makes the syrup thicken quickly. If your jaggery is taking longer to melt, you can add a tbsp or so of water.
Leslie says
beautiful, simple recipe. I love reading about your culture and traditions as well.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thank you Leslie!
Choclette says
Ooh love the idea of your sesame ladoo. It seems very similar to British fudge, only more exotic. I haven't managed to find jaggery for ages, but next time I do, I think I'm going to give this a try.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks! Indian grocery store have them for sure. If you have a store nearby, see if you can find it.
Danielle says
Fantastic dessert that could be a life-saver in so many different situations. I really like how it looks, and I am sure it tastes incredible.
Sushma Pinjala says
These ladoo reminds me of my mom's recipe. She used to make it for nagula chaviti every year. Your ladoo's look delicious Sandhya.
Suma Gandlur says
I love both the raw and cooked version sesame laddus. You have made them perfect and I wish I could grab a couple of those laddus from my monitor screen.
Usha says
Sesame seed laddu has come out good. I am too lazy to make them at home though the preparation is easy. I just mix grated jaggery and roasted seeds and eat it as is.
Gayathri Kumar says
Sesame is one flavor I love the most. And this ladoo looks so beautiful with all the sesame. I can happily finish off the whole bowl.
sapna says
Til ladoo is my favorite to make during Sankranti. Yours have turned out just amazing, I feel like grabbing a few off the screen.
Priya Suresh says
Feel like grabbing and munching few laddoos rite now, you have nailed them prefectly Sandhya. Wish i get a box of laddoos from you.
Renu says
I love this ladoos a lot and I so miss India during this festivals. I too made this but in chikki shape. Your ladoos look perfect and yum.
harini says
Wow! those laddus look perfectly made. Right time to make them too.
Kalyani says
i love the sesame ladoos but the softer version (without the jaggery syrup, but with plain ground jaggery). These have come out really well, Sandhya! very festive too 🙂
Rajani says
The pictures are really beautiful Sandhya and the post reminded me of my grandma. She used to make this a lot for us. She used to make it mostly with black sesame for the simple reason that it was always at home.
Vaishali Sabnani says
These are one of the best ladoos one can have , I normally make a chikki from these as it is easier to eat ! Lol .
You have got perfect rounds and perfectly roasted jaggery for the ladoos .
I too love to use black sesame seeds but didn’t know that it is not used in Festivals . So much to learn from blogging world !