Till Ke Laddu | Sesame Balls

Easy and quick recipe to make delicious soft laddu with til (sesame seeds), jaggery (gud), nuts and cardamom. They are made without flour (maida) and have no refined sugar.

Till ke laddu or sesame laddu is a delicious Indian sweet made especially on festivals like ‘Makar Sankranti‘ or ‘Lohri‘ but they taste so good that you would not mind making them otherwise too. These til laddu are known by different regional names like ‘Tilgul ladoo’, ‘Til gud laddu’ or ‘Ellu Urundai’ (in tamil). ‘Ellu’ means sesame and ‘Urundai’ means balls’ .

They are completely gluten free and can be made vegan (dairy free) too. For me this is the easiest ladoo recipe as you need just few basic ingredients to make these and healthy-ish too as they have no khoya (mawa), no condensed milk or refined sugar. These Til Gud laddus taste heavenly and turn out absolutely soft, literally melt in the mouth.

Sesame Laddu Ingredients:

Sesame Seeds (Til): Use good quality sesame seed as the entire binding & taste of laddus depend on them. Do not used very old sesame seeds or taste them before using as sesame seeds stored for long time can turn rancid and taste bitter.

Jaggery: Jaggery or gud / gur as known in hindi, is unrefined form of sugar extracted from sugar cane or palm. I use powdered jaggery to make these laddos. If you like sweetness on lighter side, you can reduce the amount of jaggery powder slightly in this recipe.

Ghee (Clarified Butter): Little bit of ghee is added while making these til laddu for binding and rich aroma. To make this recipe vegan, you can use softened vegan butter or semi solid coconut oil.

Cashews: Adding cashews is optional in this recipe. They are added as they Cashews add nice crunch to the ladoos and their flavour goes well with sesame. Instead of cashews you can add almonds or peanuts too. However if you want to make these laddos nut free skip adding them

Cardamom: Cardamom or elaichi adds a lovely aroma to laddoos. Use freshly ground cardamom for maximum aroma.

In India, every seasons has its own festivals and each festival comes up with its own delicacies. January season is the peak winter season in Northern India and also when we celebrate ‘Sakat‘, ‘Makar Sankranti‘ and ‘Lohri‘. As til, gud, peanuts are considered very good for consuming in winters, most of the seasonal preparations makes generous use of these ingredients.

If you think about it, peanuts, sesame are rich source of healthy fats or oils. In winters when our bodies are dry and food craving are at the peak, sweets like Til Laddu, Peanut Chikki, Til ki Chikki and Gajjak etc instantly satiate these cravings, provide essential fats to the body and help in keeping it warm.

Mytholgically ‘Makar Sankranti‘ is a festival dedicated to Lord Surya (Sun). It is believed that this day marks the end of winter season and from now onwards days will start getting longer. There is also a famous Hindi proverb ‘Til Chatke, Jada Satke’ which hints at the same phenomenon.

As a child I have been part of a big joint family where every festival and season was celebrated with great zeal. During the cold month of January and specially on ‘Sakat’, I remember my mother and aunts making ‘Tilkut’ by crushing roasted sesame seeds (til) along with shakkar (also known as khaand, a form of natural brown sugar).

It was crushed in a iron ‘Mamjista‘ (a kind of mortar and pestle) which was quite heavy for us to handle. With the arrival of modern kitchen gadgets, this work is now done in a grinding jar. Tilkut can be made into ladoos by adding some ghee and giving some extra pulses in the grinder itself.

Youtube Video:

I have also shared a quick video tutorial for these Til ladoos. If you want to get the idea about the consistency of ladoo mixture or how to bind ladoos then do check it out.

Hope you would like this easy delicious soft til ladoo recipe. More laddu recipes:

Ingredients:

Til (Sesame seeds)- 1 + 1/4 cup
Gud (Jaggery Powder)- 3/4 cup
Chopped Cashews- 8 to 10 (optional)
Elaichi Powder (Cardamom)- 1/2 tsp
Ghee (Clarified Butter)- 1/2 tbsp

Notes:

The above quantities yields 10 to 12 ladoos.
The recipe is very simple. The only thing to remember is not to grind the sesame seeds immediately after roasting as they will be hot and can release their fat quickly on grinding. Start grinding process when seeds are just slightly warm. Always do the grinding in pulses.

Directions:

Step 1:
Roast chopped cashews in a heavy bottomed pan on medium low flame till they slightly change colour and start releasing aroma. Keep these side.

Step 2:
In the same pan, add sesame seeds and start roasting them on low flame. Keep stirring or flipping the seeds in between. Keep roasting till all seeds puff up and slightly change colour. Transfer them to a bowl.

Step 3:
Let these sesame seeds (til) cool down for 10-12 minutes. Keep 3-4 tbsp seeds apart.

Step 4:
When the seeds are little warm, add them to a grinder jar. This is an important step. Don’t start grinding hot sesame seeds as they will release the fat and turn into paste. Pulse it 2-3 times.

Step 5:
In the same grinder jar, add jaggery powder (gud), cardamom powder (elaichi) and desi ghee. Grind it in pulses till all ingredients are combined properly.

Step 6:
Transfer this til ladoo mixture in a bowl and add roasted chopped cashews and 1/4 cup sesame seeds which we kept aside before. Mix these well with hands till you start noticing slight fat on your palms.

Step 7:
Take 2-3 tbsp of mixture and start binding it by closing your fist. Roll them into balls. Repeat the process for the remaining mixture. Enjoy these delicious soft til gud ladoos.