Skip to main content

Why "TILGUL" is consumed during the Indian festival of Makar Sankranti?

Tilgul is a very colorful and excellent sesame candy made of sesame seeds and jaggery. Til means sesame seeds whereas gul means jaggery in Marathi/ Hindi. Sesame Seed is the seed of an annual herb, Sesamum indicum, which grows well in hot climates and is the most commonly produced seed. The yellowish, red, or black seeds are used in bread products, stir-fries, Jewish and Chinese confectionaries, and Sesame Seeds have a nut-like, mild flavor and is used in breads, candies, main dishes, as a garnish on pasta and vegetables, and for its oil content. Tilgul is an important dish which is being prepared during the Sankranti Hindu festival celebrated on the 14th January and also popularly known as the Kite festival.
Scientific Reason: Sesame (Til) is not just an eatable item, in Ayurveda it is considered to be an extremely beneficial and strong medicine. It is a rainy season crop, and is mainly of three kinds: 1. black sesame 2. white sesame 3. red sesame. Black sesame contains the best qualities with respect to nutrition. White sesame possesses medium qualities and red sesame has no qualities at all.The most important specialty of sesame is that is contains four rasas (flavors), hot, bitter, sweet and pungent. Sesame is hot in nature and is therefore used for preparing sweets in winter season. Different types of sweets like gajak, laddu, revadi, etc. are made of sesame during the winter and protect us from cold. The chances of catching cold reduce if we eat these sweets. Sesame laddu's are beneficial for those children who normally have the
problem of bed-wetting in winters. Children having this problem should be given one sesame laddu each in the morning and evening. The bed wetting problem and the urge to urinate at small intervals also gets cured. Hence it is especially consumed during the winter season of Makar Sankranti.
On the eve of this festival, every Maharashtrian family serves their guests with Tilgul and says “Tilgul ghiya, goad goad bola” which literally means “Eat Tilgul and talk all sweet”. Tilgul is a very simple sweet and easy to prepare. Does not need much of ingredients and is just a combination of sesame and jaggery which is offered to all the guests and neighbors visiting the house on the day of Sanskranti. Few people also add peanuts and dried coconut (copra) to this sweet. Since this festival is celebrated in mid winter ideally Tilgul recipe is a combination that helps keep the body warm due to these heat generating ingredients making it a healthy sweet to enjoy. Laddu made of til (sesame seeds) with jaggery is a speciality of this festival and most popularly made in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. As such sesame seeds are considered to be very auspicious during this festival and the maximum use of sesame seeds is made during this festival.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why "TILGUL" is consumed during the Indian festival of Makar Sankranti?

Tilgul is a very colorful and excellent sesame candy made of sesame seeds and jaggery. Til means sesame seeds whereas gul means jaggery in Marathi/ Hindi. Sesame Seed is the seed of an annual herb, Sesamum indicum, which grows well in hot climates and is the most commonly produced seed. The yellowish, red, or black seeds are used in bread products, stir-fries, Jewish and Chinese confectionaries, and Sesame Seeds have a nut-like, mild flavor and is used in breads, candies, main dishes, as a garnish on pasta and vegetables, and for its oil content. Tilgul is an important dish which is being prepared during the Sankranti Hindu festival celebrated on the 14th January and also popularly known as the Kite festival. Scientific Reason: Sesame (Til) is not just an eatable item, in Ayurveda it is considered to be an extremely beneficial and strong medicine. It is a rainy season crop, and is mainly of three kinds: 1. black sesame 2. white sesame 3. red sesame. Black sesame contains the best qu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Toran (festoon) - the science behind it :

Decorating the main door of the houses, temples or any other place, where some ritual is performed, with a Toran (Toranam, festoon or a string of mango leaves) is part of the Indian culture. Normally, this kind of decoration is done during festivals or celebrations. Though there is a scientific reason behind this festoon decoration, this has become a part of the tradition and majority does not even bother to know the actual reason beh ind doing so. Indians use a Toran(festoon) made of fresh and green mango leaves. However, leaves of other species like Neem are also used for this purpose. Most of us know that the green leaves absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. This helps in keeping the surrounding atmosphere clean and hygienic. Keeping, the aesthetics in view, mango leaves are preferred, since their shape adds to the ambience. However, all other advantages of having a Toranfestoon revolve around this basic reason. According to a theory, the air filled with carbon dioxide...
Post a Comment
Read more

Soundbar vs home theater: Which TV audio sounds system best in 2020?

  soundbar vs home theatre Whether you’re looking at a soundbar or a full surround sound system, these are the tips you need to help you spend your money wisely. For best experience the cinematic sound we need to use any sound system and which one best for upgrading your TV sound system. The big choice is between the convenience and affordability of a soundbar and the sound quality and extra expense of a dedicated multispeaker system Each type has its pros and cons, but each will enable you to experience better-quality sound in your movies and TV shows. They can also stream music from your phone or voice assistant. First, we’ll need to know in soundbar vs home theater is how much you want to spend, and how much of your living space you’re willing to give up How much do you want to spend? The Soundbar system is low in cost at ₹ 45,292.00 to ₹ 2,000.00 in India. The soundbar system needs less living space and you can easily move it. But to experience the cinematic sound you...
Post a Comment
Read more