DATES PEANUTS KAJU TIL LADOO

Around this time of January its really getting tough for me, how to coordinate between Makar Sankranti and Chinese New Year with regards to food? I cannot share non-vegetarian food because I am a proud Hindu and so far do not have anything against the Hindu Calendar. If I go ahead with "pithe-puli" the traditional way, my loving native islanders cannot have them. Oh! My God! each year I have to meticulously plan my food shares so that they match both the CNY Celebrations and Makar Sankranti. This year, I gave a serious thought to it and landed in this no sugar, no jaggery, no artificial sweetener but a vegetarian, gluten-free sweet meat DATES PEANUTS KAJU TIL LADOO. It does not take much of your effort to do them, time taken is also less. 

I get less of outside sweets at home these days. This island's Indian sweets do not appeal to me much, I mean they are not as good compared to what we get in a normal shop in Kolkata. Then, I am not allowed to eat too sweet stuffs. So, I prefer experimenting with regards to sweets in the comfort of my kitchen. So far, it has not disappointed the family. The husband at times refuses to use tags to the sweet I make, but he does not discard them. The son loves to eat all the homemade sweets his mother prepares, he only does not eat "chini o chal er payesh" anymore. This one too he loved, the husband will have once he is back from the tour.

For the Makar Sankranti, the ingredients which are considered most auspicious are sesame seeds, jaggery, milk, different kinds of nuts, coconut, rice, refined flour. rice, milk and jaggery is not proving helpful for me, jaggery is causing my sugar level go high. Boiled Milk causes me a lot of bloating. The son loves to have Soy Milk, so it comes and I am trying my hands on a lot of sweets with it. This vegetarian, gluten-free sweet DATES PEANUTS KAJU TIL LADOO is not really how Bengalis do their "naru" as, perhaps the non-Bengali speaking Indians do it this way. For us Bengalis, Til is always roasted and cooked to give it a shape of a dish. I see how the non-Bengali speaking world do their semolina and gram flour or sesame balls only roasting them well and mixing the ingredients. My palms do not work as fast and effortless as theirs' when it comes to shaping any sweet, or say shaping anything. I cannot hold a paint brush properly. But yes, when it comes to home cooked, simple food with ingredients almost always available in an Indian kitchen, CURRY AND SPICE is where you should stop by.

INGREDIENTS :

CASHEW NUT : 250GM
WHITE SESAME SEED : 100GM
PEANUT : 150-200GM
DATE : 10-12
CLARIFIED BUTTER / GHEE : 2TBSP

PROCEDURE : 

These are the things I have used preparing the vegetarian, gluten-free  sweet. 

Except the ghee, we will take all the ingredients on a heated pan except the ghee.

We will roast them in low flame for 5-6 minutes or until brown.

We will pour them in a bowl and let cool for a while. We will wash the dates and chop.

We will take a grinder, add the roasted white sesame, cashew nuts, peanuts to it. We will use the pause and grind method every few seconds for 2-3 minutes. This will help release the natural oil from the seeds and nuts. I had learnt it from a video but forgot from whose.

We will add the chopped dates now and grind for 1/2 a minute.

We will transfer the amount to a bowl, add 2tbsp ghee and knead it for a minute or two.

Now, grease your palms with few drops of ghee and tear off small portions. Give them the shape of a ball. Call it a ladoo or naru, it tastes awesome.

Having them fresh gives the best taste.