Sesame seeds are known as 'Til' in kokani langauge and and the word Tilkoot translates to "ground sesame seeds". We koknis have many such "secret ingredients" that make our dishes distinctly different from others and Tilkoot is definitely one of those ingredients. La! Wait.. tilkoot is not just an ingredient, it's actually a kind of dry chutney made from black sesame seeds by adding garlic and dried red chilies. You can have tilkoot on its own as a chutney or you can use it as a condiment to make many other dishes that includes vegetables and sprouts. Traditionally tilkoot was made using mortar and pestle and the remains would be wiped of by grinding chawal ki roti in the same vessel which would make a great nutritious snack with a dollop of pure ghee, as told by my grandma but I have always seen tilkoot being made in electric grinder so it's not a difficult task at all and you can easily make it whenever you are craving for it and have all the ingredients in your pantry.
Ideally you should use a mixture of long and short black sesame seeds in the proportion of 1:4 that is, if you have 1 tablespoon of long sesame seeds you should use 4 tablespoons of short black sesame seeds but if you don't have the long ones (that aren't easily available in most of the places) you can go for only short ones and it will taste even better as the short ones are rich in oils and flavours.
Ingredients:
1 cup short black sesame seeds
1/4th cup long black sesame seeds
4-5 cloves of garlic
2-3 dried red chilies
1 teaspoon salt
A small piece of dried coconut (khopra) (totally optional)
Method:
1. Dry roast sesame seeds on a cast iron tawa till you get nice aroma. Then remove in a plate and let them cool completely.
2. Also roast khopra, if using, till it becomes dark brown and slightly charred at ends.
3. Peel and add garlic cloves to the seeds. Break and add dried red chilies.
4. Ground everything to get coarse mixture. Your tilkoot is ready!
5. Store tilkoot in glass jar and keep it in fridge so that it can last longer.
Tilkoot can be enjoyed as a chutney or you can sprinkle it on boiled drumsticks, green beans etc. It's also used to make a stuffing for veggies like okra and eggplant.
So here is How to Make Tilkoot
1 cup short black sesame seeds
1/4th cup long black sesame seeds
4-5 cloves of garlic
2-3 dried red chilies
1 teaspoon salt
A small piece of dried coconut (khopra) (totally optional)
Method:
1. Dry roast sesame seeds on a cast iron tawa till you get nice aroma. Then remove in a plate and let them cool completely.
2. Also roast khopra, if using, till it becomes dark brown and slightly charred at ends.
3. Peel and add garlic cloves to the seeds. Break and add dried red chilies.
4. Ground everything to get coarse mixture. Your tilkoot is ready!
5. Store tilkoot in glass jar and keep it in fridge so that it can last longer.
Tilkoot can be enjoyed as a chutney or you can sprinkle it on boiled drumsticks, green beans etc. It's also used to make a stuffing for veggies like okra and eggplant.
Thank you for the recipe. I will appreciate if you could throw some light on how to obtain the two types of til seeds. I live in the UK and while I can find black sesame seeds, I am not sure if it is the long or short type. Are you familiar with their availability in western world? Also how do I identify each type of til?
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