Tilkut is the winter sweet of Makar Sankranti — roasted sesame pounded together with jaggery (or sugar) into crisp, fragrant discs. Sesame and jaggery both warm the body, and the sweet is shared and eaten through the cold weeks around the festival.
A simple method: dry-roast sesame until fragrant and crush it coarse; melt jaggery to a soft ball stage and work in the sesame quickly; press and flatten while warm, then let the discs dry and harden. The town of Gaya is especially famed for its tilkut, but it is made and loved across the region.