Thala guli

Name: Thala guli (Sesame & palm sugar sweets)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: Makes 10
Cuisine: Sri Lankan
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon virgin coconut oil (optional); 100 g (3½ oz) palm sugar (jaggery); 50 g (1¾ oz/ ⅔ cup) freshly grated coconut; a pinch of salt; 100 g (3½ oz) palm sugar (jaggery); 200 g (7 oz/1⅓ cups) raw sesame seeds

Sesame & palm sugar sweets

Preparation info

Makes
10

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
20 min

Appears in

Lands of the Curry Leaf

By Peter Kuruvita

Published 2018

About

This is one of my favourite ways to eat sesame seeds, and conjures many memories of my time in Sri Lanka. As a child, I was also in awe of their exquisite presentation — these lovely balls of goodness were usually wrapped in white crepe paper, which was intricately cut to be frilly and beautiful.

Ingredients

200 g (7 oz/1⅓ cups) raw sesame seeds
50

Asia
Sri Lanka
Dessert
Vegan
Gluten-free

Method

Place the sesame seeds and coconut in a hot dry frying pan. Roast over medium heat, stirring regularly so they don’t burn, for about 3 minutes, until they are hot but not brown; the idea is to ‘activate’ the oil in the sesame seeds.

Crush the palm sugar using a mortar and pestle. Add two-thirds of the roasted sesame seed and coconut mixture to the mortar, along with the salt, and pound