Thala Guli / Thala Bola – Srilankan Sweet Recipe

For this week, I will be making three dishes from three Asian countries. Usually when I choose international cuisine, I search for breads or cakes or any baked treats, but nowadays, I prefer to make simple sweets, that too which would be suitable for Sruti as she is the only person who can consume sweets at my place. I am not too adventurous nowadays as I am not really confident about my daughter tasting them. Srilankan cuisine is so much identical to Tamil cuisine and I love their recipes. I used to watch My Srilanka with Peter Kuruvita and loved the episodes. Starting with appam to idiyappam, sweets and rice recipes, there are so many recipes which reminds you of some dish from Tamilnadu.

So when I was searching for a sweet, this thala guli got my attention. Made with sesame seeds, coconut and jaggery, these are so easy to make and so addictive. Thala means sesame in Sinhalese and this thala guli is made either in the shape of a ball or a cylinder. These are quite popular in Srilanka and are made for every festival and celebration. Srilankans become nostalgic seeing this sweet treat which I came to know after reading so many blogs. Usually the sesame, coconut and jaggery are pounded in a mortar and pestle, but if you don’t have one, then go for pulsing it in a mixer grinder. Use good quality ingredients for a delicious treat.

You can either use fresh coconut or the dried coconut available in stores. Remember that if you use fresh coconut, the shelf life of thala guli is so less. That is why I roasted the coconut. But still I refrigerated the balls as I was so afraid that with scorching heat they will spoil soon. I was so tempted after making thala guli, so I tasted a few. It was really good, full of sesame flavour. My hubby also had a lot of these thala gulis as they were so tempting. The balls are really soft and they are also bite sized. This reminds me of the peanut balls my aunt used to make. But she never added coconut. The oil in the sesame acts as the binding agent for these balls. So even though the mixture looks crumbly, they do hold their shape.

Recipe Source: The Culinary Corner

Makes 24 Balls

Ingredients:

White Sesame Seeds – 150 gm

Coconut Grated – 1 cup (tightly packed)

Palm Jaggery / Karupatti – 1 cup

Procedure:

Roast sesame seeds on low flame until they start popping.

Transfer to a plate.

Now in the same pan, dry roast coconut until fragrant.

Mash or grate the jaggery.

Take all the ingredients in a mixer jar and pulse until the mixture is coarse.

Transfer to a plate.

Pinch small portions and shape into small balls.

Refrigerate and enjoy!

Thala Guli / Thala Bola - Srilankan Sweet Recipe

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Course Sweets

Cuisine International, Srilanka

Servings 24 Balls

Ingredients

  

• White Sesame Seeds - 150 gm
• cup Coconut Grated - 1 tightly packed
• Palm Jaggery / Karupatti - 1 cup

Instructions

 

• Roast sesame seeds on low flame until they start popping.
• Transfer to a plate.
• Now in the same pan, dry roast coconut until fragrant.
• Mash or grate the jaggery.
• Take all the ingredients in a mixer jar and pulse until the mixture is coarse.
• Transfer to a plate.
• Pinch small portions and shape into small balls.
• Refrigerate and enjoy!