Today’s recipe is a traditional sweet from Jaffna called the “Ellu Pa.” This is a spiced sweet made of sesame seeds and it is one of my mother’s favourite.
The recipe I am sharing today is that of my great-grandmother, as remembered and occasionally made by my mother.
Ellu Pa
Time taken: 15 mins
Makes 4
Ingredients:
- Sesame seeds/ Ellu – ½ cup
- Urad dhal/ black gram flour – ¼ cup, roasted
- Sugar – ¼ cup
- Pepper powder – ½ tsp
- Cumin powder – ½ tsp
Method:
- First, grind the sugar and sesame seeds together in a blender.
- Then, add the urad dhal flour and continue grinding the mixture.
- Transfer the blended flour mix to a mixing bowl.
- Add the pepper and cumin powder to the bowl. Mix well.
- Add a little hot water and make the ‘ellu pa’ dough. Divide the dough into 4 balls.
- Serve with tea.
Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.
A Taste of Sri Lankan cuisine 
Yesterday was Nagula Chavithi and we make something very similar with just sesame seeds and jaggery with may be just a touch of pepper. 🙂
Nice. In the south of Sri Lanka, there is a sesame sweet that is prepared with just sesame seeds and jaggery – ‘thalaguli’. I guess sesame sweets are popular in both South India and Sri Lanka though I personally can’t stand sesame.
I could not live without sesame
My family is also very fond of sesame. Just not me. Though I am fine with sesame seeds sprinkled on baked stuff or in the form of cooking oil.
Sounds wonderful! Another recipe to try out. xx
Thank you. This sesame sweet, while highly nutritious and much liked by my mother, can be a tad too spicy for some.. kind of like the payatham paniyaram. Jaffna sweets tend to be not too sweet and usually have a blend of the spicy in them.