Till ke Gajak - Indian Flapjacks with White sesame seeds

Since this is festive time with Diwali coming so near, every home must be gearing up to making home-made sweets and some savory snacks as well. This time a very easy to make sweet at home with white sesame seeds-“Gajak”.I have fond memories of eating this Indian sesame seeds flapjacks while growing up in UP ( a northern part of India ).


This sweet can be stored for 1 week if you are making them in home, provided if it’s still left any. Winter’s are marked by eating “till key laddos” (white or black sesame seeds snowballs) or “gajak” (sesame seeds flapjacks), shelling and eating roasted peanuts in UP .Every corner of the street has these “Bhaiyas” selling roasted peanuts and different varieties of “Gajaks” over small wooden pull-carts with wheels called as “thellas”.They have this interesting way of dry roasting peanuts with some sand over a large hot iron wok. Perhaps that’s why the peanuts come out so crunchy and nutty. And believe me if you get a chance to grab the “ Hari chutney” , I mean a chutney made of green chilies paste/coriander leaves and salt, nothing is comparable in this world. Every evening my “Seju Kaku”/uncle would generally come home with large paper packets (made from old news papers, a great way to recycle paper) fresh roasted peanuts and that delicious “Hari chutney” and also those delicious “Gajak” .We kids would cuddle up in warm cozy blankets/duvets and then with all the family members we would have fresh roasted peanuts and delicious “Gajak”.

Those mobile food-carts/Thellas in UP , reminds me of mobile food-carts in every New York streets selling hot dogs. Just wondering who copied whom.

Street foods can be sometimes very addictive and even if you make them in home, it never matches to the original taste and flavour. Some secrets may be!!

Gajak recipe
(all the measurements are approx)

White Sesame seeds about 1 cup

About 1 cup of granulated sugar

2-3 tbs of butter

Method

Dry roast sesame seeds over low flame for about 10 -12 mints till they turn out little bit golden. Make sure you stir it at regular intervals to avoid burnt out sesame seeds.

If you wish you may coarsely ground sesame seeds after roasting them in a mixer.

Now make sugar syrup with 1 cup of sugar and about quarter cup of water and 2-3 tbs of butter. (Adjust the sweetness according to taste)

Add the roasted sesame seeds to the thick syrup and mix well.

Scoop out the mixture over a greased plate. Smear it out evenly of about half inch thickness with a clean knife.

Cut into squares or diamond shapes and then let it cool.Separate the squares after they have cooled.
Eat and enjoy.
Note-
You may use gur/jaggery in place of sugar.Adding bit of cardamom powder enhances the taste.

Happy cooking!!

Wishing all my readers a very Happy Diwali