Til ko Laddu (Nepali Style Sesame Truffles) Recipe!!

Even though Maghe Sakranti is over for this year, I have been getting a lot of request for Til ko Laddo recipe. This year I had made some and managed to take some photos to share the whole process with you all. It was my first try and surprisingly this recipe is super easy. The end results were amazing :) This year I managed to make almost everything we eat on Maghe Sakranti back home and relived our culture abroad. Here you go guys, here I present you an easy way to make Til ko Laddu :D Also, Click here for Chaku Recipe and Click here for Khichadi Recipe.

Yumtastic :x

Prep time: 5mins(s) Cook time: 40min(s) Total time: 45min(s)

Things you will need:

• Sesame Seeds (White or black: 2 and 1/2 cups)
• Jaggery (1/2 lb; cut into small pieces so that it melts easily)
• Ghee (3 table spoons)
• Oil (3 table spoons)
• Water (5-7 table spoons)

Directions:

1. On a deep dish add jaggery, ghee and water. Cook on a small heat until jaggery melts and becomes liquid consistency.
2. In the meanwhile, roast sesame seeds. 
3. On a plate, add one table spoon of jaggery mixture and around 2 table spoons of roasted sesame. 
4. Rub your hands with oil to make the  laddos. First use spoon to mix (be extremely careful as jaggery mixture gets very hot) and then slowly use your hands to make a round shape.  Refer to 5th and 6th picture above for an idea.
5. Repeat the process one after another.
6. Done. Enjoy and store remaining on a container for other days :)

Maghe Sakranti: Fulaura (Spicy Black Lentil Doughnut) Recipe!!

With Kichadi (Recipe Here) and Chaku (Recipe Here), back home we used to make fulaura on Maghe Sankranti as well. I love how fulaura is so easy to prepare,  fluffy, crispy, and most importantly yummy :) Maghe Sakranti is one of my favorite festivals as there are so many different kinds of foods that represent this day. I tried to recreate same  vibe as I tried making most of the food we used to eat on Maghe Sakranti. I will post more recipes of other dishes during the weekend. First lets make fulaura :)

Happy Maghe Sakranti Everyone >:D<

Prep time: 15mins(s) Cook time: 30min(s) Total time: 45min(s)

Things you will need:

• 3 cups black lentil (soaked and cleaned thoroughly)
• Timur powder (optional, black pepper can be a great alternative, 1/2 table spoon)
• Red chili powder (1/2 table spoon)
• Turmeric powder (2 tea spoons)
• Ginger paste (1 and 1/2 table spoons)
• Salt (according to taste)
• Cumin-coriander powder (1 table spoon)
• Oil (4-5 cups)

Directions:

1. Blend cleaned lentil. Consistency of the paste must be more on the thicker side. Refer third picture above for overview. 
2. Add all of the above mentioned ingredients except oil in the paste and mix well.
3. Heat oil and on a medium heat, little by little fry (stir periodically) mixture to make fulaura.
4. Fry until red and crispy.
5. Serve with any kind of chutney or simply with ketchup or Sriracha sauce :)

Weekend Fun at U-Pick Citrus Farm :)

U-pick apple on 2014 (Click here for U-pick Apple Post) was so much fun that we decided to go to local U-pick citrus farm this year. Since citruses ripen around winter time,  Dec-Jan timing was perfect to pick them up. Undoubtedly, picking citruses was an amazing experience. There were so many different varieties to choose from and I made sure to pick each one of them. Frankly, I had never in my life imagined that oranges had these many varieties.  There were varieties of grapefruits (Bhogate) as well and I am planing to make Bhogate Sadeko (Recipe Here) this coming weekend.

Another surprising thing to note is that there was a tree loaded with tangerines (suntala) just like we get back home and it was so delicious. It had been years since I hadn't had one and when I found one I was so excited and picked so many :) First thing  I did once I got back home was I roasted some peanuts, made spicy cilantro chutney, and sat outside in the sun for hours and enjoyed juicy suntala just like we used to do back home around this time :) 

Enjoy :)