Jian Dui: Crispy And Sweet Chinese Sesame Balls

Like most cultures across the world, any special occasion is marked by the preparation of sweet treats that hold a significant reason behind why they’re made. Similarly, in Chinese culture, the Jian Dui, deep-fried, crispy sesame balls are a sweet treat commonly made for the lunar new year. As these sesame balls puff up in the process of cooking, they are meant to symbolize prosperity and are often shared with family and friends to wish them good luck for the year ahead.

Depending on what sizes these sesame balls are made, they come with or without fillings. Stuffed sesame balls have fillings like mung beans, peanuts, red bean or sesame paste as the most common flavours. These sesame balls are not really common to make at homes, unless a festival calls for such a purpose, but they are pretty easy to recreate at home for a quick snack, a healthy replacement for empty caloried, gluten-loaded sugar treats and also because they taste like til-gul on steroids. Go figure!

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Ingredients

• ¾ cup rice flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup roasted peanuts
• ¼ cup sweetened peanut butter
• 1 + ½ tablespoons maple syrup
• ¼ cup white sesame seeds

Method

• Add the flour to a large mixing bowl and set aside. Bring half a cup of water to a boil and add the sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add this hot syrup to the rice flour and mix everything well into a loose, shaggy dough.
• Once the mixture starts to clump together, empty the contents on a clean working surface and knead into a smooth ball. Add a tablespoon of oil to the dough at this point and continue to knead further until the dough is as soft as your earlobe. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, grind the roasted peanuts in a food processor, into a fine powder. Mix together the peanut butter and maple syrup until combined thoroughly before adding the crushed peanuts to this sweet mixture.
• Roll the sticky peanut mixture into small, lemon-sized balls and place on a sheet tray. If the mixture is too dry, add more maple syrup to ensure that the mixture clumps together.
• Divide the dough into equal portions and roll out puri-sized discs from it. Place the peanut mixture in the centre of each disc and envelope the dough around this mixture.
• Add the white sesame seeds to a small saucer and roll each ball of dough in this, until the sesame seeds coat the dough ball on all sides.
• Drop them gently in hot oil and fry until brown, for about 5-7 minutes, until crispy and fluffy. Serve warm as it is or drizzled with ribbons of salted caramel.