Food and Recipes

Makar Sankranti- The festival of yummy sweets


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Makar Sankranti is a harvest festival celebrated with much enthusiasm across the country. It celebrates the sun’s shift into Tropic of Capricorn (also called as ‘Makar’ in Sanskrit). It is around this time that sun starts making a transition towards the North. This point marks the end of cold wintery days and starts giving way to longer and warmer days.  The limited sunlight in winters also takes a toll on crop harvesting, which is why the country rejoices at the prospect of warm days and the longer season of sunlight.

Makar Sankranti is celebrated with a lot of delicious food, folk songs and dance rituals across the country. It is one such festival that is incomplete without its traditional sweets. From chikki to til ladoos, the festival is indeed a foodie’s dream come true.



Here are some of the favourite desserts enjoyed around Makar Sankranti

1. Til Ladoo:

Til ladoo and Makar Sankranti are almost synonymous to each other. During Sankranti staple is made with a mix of sesame seeds and jaggery. Sesame and jaggery, both are the significant components of Makar Sankranti celebrations. Majorly because of their warming nature. They are used extensively across all winter food preparations. 

2. Chikki

Chikki is another sweet enjoyed a lot during winters. It is a flat and brittle dessert made with peanuts along with molten jaggery. There are many variations available these days, some types also include sesame seeds or various healthy nuts. It is also an intrinsic part of Makar Sankranti celebrations across all north India. 

 


 

3. Gajak

Gajak is originated in Madhya Pradesh. It is a dry dessert made with sesame seeds, groundnut and jaggery. Here jaggery is mixed with sesame seeds and set in thin layers. The especially is that it comes in different yummy flavours like dry-fruit, chocolate, Khas, Gond and til-revadi. And can be stored for months.

4. Puran Poli

This is a sweetened flat bread/paratha stuffed with mung and jaggery is an awesome treat to the soul. Tt is a wholesome preparation and a popular Maharashtrian delicacy. It is also prepared around Diwali and Naraka Chaturdashi celebrations. 


 

5. Doodh Puli

Doodh puli is another festive popular treat. It is prepared lavishly across Bengal and parts of Orissa during Poush Sankranti. Dudh puli is essentially a rice flour-stuffed dumpling boiled with thick milk. It is sweetened by date palm jaggery (or khejur gur) which is available only for a few months around this time. The crumbly stuffing inside is made of coconut and date palm jaggery. ‘Pithe puli’ is another similar dish which is also enjoyed during Makar Sankranti. The only difference is that pithe puli is fried and not dipped in milk.

Any festive season in India is a foodie’s paradise. It allows you to gorge on an array of mouth-watering delicacies. Which one is your favourite, do let me know in the comments below



30 thoughts on “Makar Sankranti- The festival of yummy sweets

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  • what amazing sweets you have for sankranti – we Bengalis also have some typical sweets ‘sankranti special’ which we mostly make during this time.

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  • I adore dudh puli. This post made me so hungry. It’s the absolute favorite time of year for some Lovely dishes.

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  • Being born in India means enjoying various festivals and be part of every occasion with happiness vibes. Makar Sankrati, we had lots of fun with yummy til gud laddo and some balloon flying in the evening.

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  • Makar Sankranti is such a colorful festival.I love to gorge on Til Ladoos and love to see the vibrant kites in the sky.

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  • Wishing you a happy makar sankranti. This harvest festival is celebrated almost all over India and reading your post introduced me to some of the interesting sweets like dudh poli.

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  • momtasticworld

    Pooranpoli and til ke ladoo are my favorites. I am saving this and will make few of these soon. To be honest, almost drooling looking at these delicious sweets.

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  • Love how you write all your blogs. Makar Sankranti is a beautiful festival to celebrate with friends and family. Happy makar Sankranti

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  • Bulbul

    Well MakarSakranti no doubt is a festival that is a foodie’s delight but it is so much more than that and not just about food . It’s a beginning of a new year and a new life and a new chance to end the old and begin the new. It is the most important festival in hindu calendar

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  • I am a huge fan of Til ladoo and chikki, Makar Sankranti is just incomplete without them, loved the post its just damn beautifully written.

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  • Khushboo

    these are some amazing mouth watering dishes. I love chikki and til laddo the most. Makar Sankranti is a beautiful festival which is celebrated in India.

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  • Happy Makar sankranti to you too. After reading your post it reminded to me of my til ke laddu my mom use to make for us. I miss that childhood memories. Yes so my favorite is till ke ladu for sure.

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  • Amita Pandey

    Happy Makar Sankranti. Thanks for sharing this mouthwatering post. I really like Til laddos and gajak both are my favourites especially in Winters.

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  • Nisha Malik

    Makar Sankrati is a festival that is celebrated in our country in different ways. Every place has special dishes for the day and they represent unique taste. I personally love sweets made with til.

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  • Makar Sankranti is celebrated across the country in different ways. I love to celebrate in Maharashtran way because I like Tilghul ladoo and puran poli. This was a mouth-watering article.

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  • One of my Marathi friend celebrates this festival with so much enthusiasm . I love to eat Tilgul and ladoo a lot.

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  • Makar Sankranti is such a beautiful festival my marathi friend always gives me Tilgul and ladoo this festival.

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  • Oh, I so much love Makar Sankranti, for the delicious jaggery dishes. Sesame seeds laddu with lots of Jaggery are one of my favourite which i can gulp lots even in a day.

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  • Its the first festival of the year and definitely adds lot of color and happiness to the lives of everyone. Indeed sweets made during this festival adds lot of flavor as well.

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  • I love that Makar Sankranti is enjoyed throughout our country with different names but the same excitement and emotions. Til laddos and gajak are my favourites. We also make gud poli during this time.

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  • Happy Makar Sankranti dear.. I had also made til ka laddu and chikki too. All the sweets are delicious and every region has their own specialty during makar sankranti.

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  • Makar Sankranti is a much awaited festival. The sweets and kites are our favourites. Love Chikki and of course the irresistible Puran Poli.

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  • I am a Marathi and we celebrate this in a big way. The taste of tilguls made by my Grandma is still on my mouth. Wonderful post and I love gajak too.

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  • sweet treats is an important part of Makar Sankranti. Patishapta is really very famous sweet at bengal specially prepare in this time..

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  • Noorain Sobiya

    My favourite any day is Puran Poli and Chikki, just something about these desserts makes me super happy. Happy Makar Sankranti to you, dear!

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  • Winters are the best time to indulge into some sweet sin. My personal favorite it gajak, the melt in mouth consistency is just irresistible. Thanks for sharing this mouthwatering post.

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  • Noor Anand Chawla

    Happy Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Lohri! Each one of these sweets looks absolutely delectable. Thank you for sharing this post!

    Reply

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