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Til Chikki Recipe | Sesame Chikki Recipe
Til Chikki recipe is a traditional Indian brittle (sweet) made of roasted sesame seeds and jaggery on the festive occasion of Lohri and Makar Sankranti. It is also known as Til Gajak, Til Gud Chikki, or sesame chikki.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sesame seeds used mix of white and black sesame seeds
- 1 cup jaggery roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
Instructions
Prep Work
- Keep two large parchment papers and a rolling pin ready. We will use this to spread and shape the mixture.
Roasting sesame seeds
- Heat a pan on medium heat and dry roast the sesame seeds for 4-5 mins stirring intermittently. Ensure they don't burn.
- Once they are toasted, you can see the start to splutter and white sesame seeds will also turn slightly golden brown in color.
- Take them off the heat and transfer sesame seeds to a clean dry bowl or plate so they don't cook further.
- Add cardamom powder to it. Mix well and keep aside.
Making Jaggery Syrup
- Heat a pan (nonstick preferably) on medium heat and add jaggery to it.
- Keep stirring continuously till the jaggery melts and starts bubbling.
- Add ghee and keep stirring until jaggery turns frothy and the color changes to a slightly dark amber color (texture and color almost looks like whipped coffee).
- At this point, check the jaggery syrup consistency. Take a small bowl of cold water and drop a few drops of jaggery into it to see if it has reached the hardball consistency.
- If it hardens and breaks easily like candy without any stringy consistency that means the syrup is ready. You can also check by tasting the hardened jaggery to see if it sticks to your teeth in which case you can cook for a couple of mins and do the water test again. The hardened jaggery should be brittle and not soft.
- Do not cook past the hardball consistency as the jaggery will burn, taste bitter, and give a very dark amber color.
Making Til Chikki
- Once you have the right jaggery syrup consistency, stir in the roasted sesame seeds. Mix until well combined.
- These next steps should be done quickly and while the mixture is still warm.
- Turn off the heat and immediately transfer the mixture to one parchment paper.
- Cover it with the second parchment paper and using a rolling pin, spread the mixture as thin as you like but not too thin. I like to keep it ¼ inch thick.
- Cut into 1-inch squares (bite-size bites) while it is hot. Allow to set about 5-10 mins or as long as needed and then break to separate the squares. They should break easily.
- Til Chikki is ready! Store in an airtight container and enjoy for up to a month.
Video
Notes
Tip for that perfect Til Chikki Recipe
- Roast the sesame seeds as it helps bring out their nutty flavor even more. Be cautious not to burn them though.
- You can use white sesame seeds or black sesame seeds or a mix of both.
- Don’t cook jaggery on high heat it will stick to the pan and burn. Always cook on medium heat stirring continuously
- Jaggery syrup consistency is very important. If overcooked, chikki will become very hard to eat. And if undercooked then chikki will stick to your teeth. The consistency should be such that when it sets its forms the perfect brittle that is crunchy (not chewy or sticky).
- Spread the hot chikki mixture sandwiched between two parchment papers using a rolling pin. Makes it clean and mess-free.
- Spread, roll, and cut the chikki squares while the mixture is still hot. Chikki mixture hardens pretty fast and can make rolling and cutting difficult.
- If that happens, heat the mixture only until its warm and spreadable and work quickly. Do not overcook as it will make chikki hard.
- You can also add other nuts and seeds along with sesame seeds to add more texture and nutrition.
- Instead of jaggery sugar can be used but it tastes best with jaggery.
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