Dates Sesame Juice/ Ellu Kharjura milkshake

Why sesame in sankranti? 
Sesame/ til/ ellu, these tiny seeds are very rich in various nutrients including some of the rarely found micro nutrients. The benefits of which are often overlooked. Being rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre (important) and couple of essential fat, til is good for digestion, beneficial in maintenance of cholesterol level, colon health, heart and skin health too.. The rich iron content is good in treating anaemia.. It keeps us warm...Applying sesame oil on skin helps in reducing dryness in winter. 
As sankranti or pongal is the time of transition, and still falls in winter, the food habits to be followed is pro winter food.. As our digestive system is highly active during winter, it is suggested to consume food which is heavy, oil rich, carbohydrates & protein  rich too.. Recommended are protein rich lentils (dals), seeds rich in oil (peanuts, til, ..), nuts, dry fruits, rice, root vegetables like potato, yam, sweet potato which are rich in carbs.. 

So other than ellu- bella (mix of sesame, jaggery, peanuts, fried grams, dry coconut.. ) how can we consume this seed? We can make gravy or curry with sesame, top it on bread , add fried til in kheer or juice! Yes, you read it right. One can make very healthy juice which is perfect summer coolant. I was not knowing about it until my sister (Ayurvedic practitioner) introduced it to me last summer. Let us see the process of making this. I used here dates as sweetener.. It can be replaced by jaggery completely, original recipe has only jaggery.. 

Wish you all happy sankranti/ harvest festival.. 

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Sesame/ til/ ellu (white) – 2-3 tsp

Chilled milk – 1 glass

Cold Water – 1 glass

Dates – 6

Jaggery powder – 2 tsp (optional), add only if you need sweet milk

Cardamom powder - 1 pinch (optional)

Method:

• Remove seeds of dates, wash and soak in little water or milk.
• Wash sesame seeds using a tea sieve.
• Now take the sesame seeds in a wet mixer jar and grind nicely adding little water as required. Strain using the sieve to extract its juice completely. Discard the residue. While doing this, add little water at a time.
• Now take collected sesame juice in a mixer jar (juice making). Add dates and chilled milk, jaggery (if using) and cardamom powder. Blend well to make the milkshake.
• Transfer to serving glass and serve chilled with added ice cubes. 

Notes:

• I have used dates as sweetener and 1 tsp jaggery too as dates gives mild sweetness.
• You can use dates syrup instead of soaked dates to make it simple.
• Dates are not being used in traditional ellu juice. To make it, follow the same procedure except dates. Grind ellu & jaggery with water, filter. Mix milk and cardamom powder, serve.