Makar Sankranti 2023: Jaggery-sesame cookies? Mumbai chefs share unique recipes using the ingredients

As shops selling kites sprout in different neighbourhoods in Mumbai, one feels the festive spirit in the air. It is only fair as the city is getting ready to celebrate Makar Sankranti in a bigger and better way this time almost three years after the Covid-19 pandemic. While many did celebrate last year amid caution due to Omicron, this year is going to be different with a lot more food, drink and kite flying.

When one talks about festivals in India, it is impossible to imagine it without food, and that is something each and every one of us know, as we have grown up celebrating all kinds of festivals that aren't limited to religious preferences. If you have been in Mumbai long enough, then it is known that Makar Sankranti is celebrated with til gul ladoos. The sweet is made from sesame and jaggery and moulded into small balls that are irresistible and no one can eat just one because the sweet flavour of jaggery coupled with the nuttiness of sesame, makes for a perfect combination to gorge on for the festival.

Now, if you are looking to innovate and are open to experimenting with new sweet dishes, then don't fret. Keeping in mind the true essence of the festival, we asked city chefs to share the recipes for their most innovative dishes using the two ingredients. Can you imagine making cookies out of sesame and jaggery or even tarts sweetened by jaggery? They say it is possible and one that can be definitely tried out for this Makar Sankranti.

Jaggery sesame cookies by Chef Vedant Thengodkar, ITC Grand Central, Parel

If you love til gul ladoos but don't mind experimenting with this festival, then chef Vedant Thengodkar, sous chef at ITC Grand Central suggests making jaggery and sesame cookies. He explains, "While the cookies can be prepared during the Makar Sankranti season, these cookies are loved by guests throughout the year, especially for those who want to have something healthy but not something usual." Thengodkar says the two ingredients blend in very well for any dessert preparation and that can be seen with the traditional dessert as well as any contemporary creation.

Ingredients:
Ghee 1/2 cup
Jaggery powder 3/4th cup
Vanilla extract 1 tsp
Wheat flour 1 1/2 cup
Baking soda 1/2 tsp
Baking powder 1/2 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Cardamom and dry ginger powder 1/2 tsp
Sesame seeds 1/2 cup
Tahini paste 1/2 tbsp

Method:
1. Toast the sesame till fragrant and light brown.
2. Mix the ghee and jaggery powder till everything is completely blended.
3. Add vanilla extract to the above and again mix everything together.
4. Mix whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cardamom and dry ginger powder and sesame seeds to the wet mixture and swirl everything to form an even cookie dough.
5. Add tahini to the cookie dough and mix again. Put the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to an hour.
6. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Take around 1-2 tablespoons of cookie dough in your hands, form a ball and flatten the little. Sprinkle all the cookies with sesame seeds and pat them a little on top.
7. Bake the cookies for around 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven.
8. Serve the cookies warm.

Sugar-free vegan dark chocolate tart by chef Sunil Singh, Blue Bop Cafe, Khar West
If you are a vegan or can't eat sugar, then enjoying sweets may often be an issue, especially for a festival like Makar Sankranti when you are craving for til ladoos. At Blue Bop Cafe, chef Sunil Singh says one can simply make a sugar-free vegan chocolate tart with the help of jaggery. He explains, "Jaggery is sweeter in nature than white sugar. So even a little jaggery adds the right amount of sweetness to a dessert." This not only gives it natural sweetness but just the right amount to satiate your festive craving.

Ingredients:
Jaggery powder 50 gm
Rajgira flour 50 gm
Almond flour 50 gm
Cashewnut 100 gm
Raw cocoa powder 65 gm
Vanilla essence 2 ml
Extra virgin coconut oil 100 ml
Maple syrup 50 ml

Method:
1. Mix jaggery powder, rajgira flour almond flour with water and extra virgin coconut oil to make tart base.
2. Pour the mixture in a tart tin and bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.
3. Once done, keep it for cooling on the racks.
4. In a bowl, mix crushed cashew nut raw cocoa powder maple syrup to make a thick batter.
5. Pour this mixture in a piping bag and let it cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
6. Fill the tart with the mixture and garnish with raw cocoa powder.

Sesame, jaggery and coconut kataifi roll by chef Kshitiz Shekhar, Hotel Marine Plaza, Marine Drive
Move over a laddoo and try making a sesame, jaggery and coconut kataifi roll. Chef Kshitiz Shekhar, culinary director at Hotel Marine Plaza suggests making the unique preparation for this Makar Sankranti because it not only has sesame and jaggery but also coconut -- all of which lends it a really sweet yet rich flavour that can be enjoyed for the festival.

Ingredients:
Freshly grated coconut 100 gm
Sesame 30 gm
Jaggery 50 gm
Cardamom powder 5 gm
Kataifi 300 gm
Mawa 30 gm
Ghee 30 gm
Rose petals 2 gm
Pistachio 5 gm

Method:
1. Heat a pan and broil sesame. Set it aside. Now heat the ghee in a pan.
2. After it melts, add freshly grated coconut and saute it on low fire for five minutes.
3. Add sesame and mix it well. Then add jaggery, mawa and cardamom powder to it. Saute it for another five minutes and let it cool.
4. After that, divide the mixture into 12 equal parts. Wrap kataifi on top of each of the pieces.
5. Drizzle some ghee on the top and bake it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes.
6. Once golden brown, put it on the plate and garnish with pistachio and rose petals.

Play Quiz: How well do you know India's harvest festivals celebrated in January?

Sesame and lotus biscoff sandwich cookies by chef Bhumika Harwani, The Pastry Journal, Andheri West
If you don't like jaggery, chef Bhumika Harwani, founder of city-based modern French patisserie, The Pastry Journal, believes in adding a unique touch to make mouth-watering sesame and lotus biscoff sandwich cookies. This, she says, is a modern take on the classic sesame and jaggery combination for the festival. Harwani explains, "This recipe combines the oily fat of the sesame seeds with buttery biscuits and has replaced the sweetness of jaggery with the unique caramelised sweetness of lotus biscoff."

Components:
Sable cookie dough beaded with sesame seeds
Lotus biscoff spread

Ingredients:
Almond flour 35 gm
All-purpose flour (maida) 240 gm
Icing sugar 80 gm
Salted butter 120 gm
Cold water 60 ml
Vanilla essence 1 tsp
Black and white sesame seeds mix 50 gm

Method:
1. Sieve the almond flour, icing sugar and all-purpose flour together.
2. Cut the butter in small cubes and keep it to refrigerate. Now start rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add cold water and vanilla essence to the dough to bring it together.
4. Stop kneading as soon as it comes together to limit gluten formation.
5. Sheet the dough between two parchment papers to 3 mm heights.
6. Cut 10 discs using a flower-edged cookie cutter. Cut another 10 of the same size with a little hole in the middle like a donut.
7. In a small bowl, combine black and white sesame seeds. Coat each disc on one side with these seeds. Place it on a baking tray and leave it to freeze for an hour.
8. Bake these cookies at 180 degrees for about 8-12 minutes.
9. Once cooled, pipe lotus biscoff spread and make sandwiches with the hole cut cookies facing on top.

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