Tilgul Laadoo (Til Gul Ghya Goad Goad Bola)

Ingredients :
· 1/2 kg white sesame seeds,
· 1/4 kg jaggery (usually jaggery required for Tilgul is stickier than the normal one and called 'chikkicha gul' in Marathi. ),
· 1/4 cup dry shredded coconut,
· 1/4 cup peanuts or chana dalia,
· cardamoms or rose essence

Method :
· Roast sesame seeds over medium heat. When they turn slight golden, remove. Roast shredded coconut till light brown. Roast peanuts.
· Remove the skins of peanuts and crush them into small pieces. Or use chana dalia instead of peanuts.
· In a clean heavy-bottomed, nonstick pan, heat jaggery over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon ghee into it. After some time, it starts bubbling up and changes to light red. Pour sesame seeds, coconut, peanuts and cardamom powder immediately and mix well. This mixture is little sticky and thick.
· Rub some ghee to the palm of your hands. When the mixture is still hot, take some in your palm. Roll into 1 inch diameter ball. If the mixture gets cold, heat again to make the rolling easier. Make all the ladoos and let them cool. They turn hard and crisp once cool. Store in an airtight container. Tip: Increase the amount of jaggery if it is less sweet.
Happy Makar Sakranti !!! :-)

GUL POLI

Makart Sankrant Special GUL POLI

The Makar Sankranti festival is celebrated in the mid winter in India, the food prepared for this festival is such that it keeps the body warm and gives high energy. Hence til(sesame seeds) and gul(jaggery, brown sugar) are basically used in the preparation of sweets for this festival. The recipe details of gul poli are as below.

Ingredients:For dough:Plain flour(Maida) , 1/2 cupWheat flour (Atta) , 1/2 cup2 tbsp cooking oil, luke warm water, a pinch of salt

For filling:Jaggery : 1 and 1/2 cup, Sesame seeds: 4 tspn, Gram flour: 3 tbspn, Cardamom powder: 1 tspn, Nutmeg powder: 1 tspn, Cashewnuts : 4-5, Almonds: 1-2, Ghee for roasting.

Method:Dough preparation:1) Sieve the flours so as to avoid lumps .2) Mix the flours. Prepare a hollow space in the center to put oil.3) Heat oil and add it to the flour.4) Mix hot oil with flour using a spoon.5) Add a pinch of salt.6) Add luke warm water and make a soft dough.7) Leave aside covered by wet cloth for 2 hrs.

Filling preparation:1) If the jaggery is soft, break it in small lumps by hand. If hard, just grate it.2) Roast sesame seeds and gram flour separately.3) Grind sesame seeds, cashews and almonds together to a smooth paste.4) Mix Jaggery, gram flour, ground paste, cardamom powder and nutmeg powder.5) Make 4-5 small balls about one inch diameter for filling.

Steps for Gulpoli:

1) Knead the dough well. Make 4-5 equal parts of dough, nearly same size as dough for chapati.

2) Roll th dough on rolling board till it becomes 3-4 inch in diamater.

3) Place a ball of filling in the center and close it by getting the edges together at top. Take care not to let the filling come out.

4) With the use of flour, just press the dough by both palms so as to equally spread the filling inside towards the edges as well.

5) Using flour, roll it to nearly 7-8 inches in diameter.

6) Heat the frying pan and put some ghee.

7) Roast the gulpoli on the frying pan on both sides using ghee till it turns brownish.

8) Serve hot with ghee or eat crispy gulpoli.

BRUSCHETTA (Italian Recipe)

Ingredients:
· Loaf of French bread
· 5 medium tomatoes (chopped)
· 3-4 cloves minced garlic
· Juice from 1/2 lime
· 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
· 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
· 1 tbs fresh basil

· Salt and pepper
Method:
Mix diced tomatoes (juice and all), minced garlic, olive oil, lime juice, 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (keep the rest for later), basil, and salt and pepper (to taste).
Allow to stand for several hours to marinade. Slice bread at an angle, brush one side with melted butter, and broil on each side until brown.
Spoon mixture onto bread, and top with reserved Parmesan. Broil until cheese has melted.
Best when served immediately to avoid getting moist.