Tilkut

Tilkut is a sweet from eastern India made by pounding sesame seeds together with sugar or jaggery. Gaya in Bihar is known for producing it, and it is sold in round, flat pieces or in small clusters. The cross-section is packed with finely broken sesame, and biting into it brings out the sweetness of the sugar and the aroma of the roasted seeds.

Tilkut made with sesame and jaggery (2014, Jagisnowjughead / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0). Downscaled version from the source; content unchanged since retrieval.

Pounding sesame with warm sugar

Making tilkut is not just a matter of pouring sweetened sesame into a mold; the pounding step is essential. A large amount of sesame is coated in cooked sugar, and before it sets completely, it is pounded repeatedly and shaped. As the pounding breaks the seeds into finer pieces, the sugar and sesame blend throughout.

Sugar that can be worked while warm becomes hard as it cools. Mixing, pounding, dividing and flattening are all done in step with the changing state of the sugar. Although it may look like a round biscuit, it is made differently from flour sweets baked in an oven.

Colors that change with the sugar

There are whitish versions made with white sugar, light brown versions made with an unrefined sugar called shakkar, and dark brown versions made with jaggery. Even with the same sesame, the difference in sugar changes the color and flavor.

Which sugar is used, how finely the seeds are broken, and how thick the pieces are formed also affect how the sweet breaks apart when eaten.

Winter in Gaya and the turning point of the harvest

Tilkut is enjoyed in winter, especially around Makar Sankranti. In Gaya, Ramna Road is known as a place to buy the sweet, and shopfronts display versions made with different sugars and sesame. At festival meals, it may also be served alongside dahi chura, a dish combining flattened rice and fermented milk.

As Sankranti approaches, tilkut is pounded in Gaya not only in shops but also in small home-based workshops. A 2025 local news report describes artisans who come from towns around Gaya for seasonal work, making tilkut until late hours to meet winter orders.

The closely related gajak also involves pounding sesame and sugar. In some regions the names overlap, and while Gaya’s tilkut is round, some regional versions of gajak are finished in thin layers.

Glossary