TIL KE LADOO: INDIAN SESAME SEED AND JAGGERY SWEETS

Ingredients

• 1 cup sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon raw peanuts, finely crushed (optional)
• 1 cup jaggery (a hardened sugar cane), cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

How to Make

Stage 1 - Roast Your Nuts and Seeds

1. Start by taking a small pan over medium-high heat. When it's heated up, add in your peanuts and begin roasting if you're using them. If not, skip this step and the next one
2. Roast your peanuts for 3-4 minutes until they start to brown, then remove them from the heat and set aside
3. Next, add your sesame seeds and roast them as well. This should take between 3-5 minutes until they start to brown and become fragrant
4. When roasted, remove your sesame seeds from the pan and set aside as well

Stage 2 - Create Your Jaggery Syrup

1. In the same pan, you'll then start by adding your water. Give it around 30 seconds for the water to heat up and maybe even bubble
2. With your water heated, add in your pieces of jaggery and begin to mix around. The jaggery will start to dissolve, and a syrup will start to form. It's helpful here to use a ladle to stir and help break the jaggery pieces down
3. Next, add in your coconut oil and cardamom powder and continue stirring the jaggery syrup for 1 minute. The syrup will become darker and slightly thicker as the water starts to evaporate away
4. As the syrups starts to thicken, reduce your stovetop heat to a bare simmer

Stage 3 - Putting Your Til ke Ladoo Together

1. As your syrup continues to simmer, fold in your sesame seeds and peanuts and stir thoroughly
2. Once the sesame seeds and peanuts have been well-coated in this jaggery syrup (and you generally have a fairly thick paste forming), turn off your stovetop heat and transfer your til ke ladoo mix to a plate line with parchment paper
3. Wait about 1 minute for the mixture to cool. In the meantime, rub some coconut oil through your hands to coat them well
4. Take a spoonful of til ke ladoo into your hand and begin quickly molding it into the shape of a ball. Be careful here, because the mixture might still be very warm! Move quickly to keep from hurting yourself with the heat
5. Continue to mold all your til ke ladoo into a ball shaped, then set aside. Once it's hardened, you're all done!