Tilkut, the Gaya way

Ingredients

• White sesame seeds300 g
• Jaggery200 g
• Water2 tbsp
• Ghee, for the board and your palms1 tsp

Method

1. 1

   Dry-roast the sesame on low heat, moving it constantly, until it turns a shade darker and starts popping. Take it off before it browns — sesame goes bitter fast, and there is no recovering it.

2. 2

   Melt the jaggery with two spoons of water and cook to the soft-ball stage: a drop in cold water should form a ball you can flatten between two fingers. Past that stage the whole batch sets hard as glass.

3. 3

   Tip the sesame in off the heat and fold it through fast. You have about ninety seconds of working time.

4. 4

   Now the part that makes it tilkut: turn it onto a greased board and beat it with a pestle or a heavy rolling pin, folding it back on itself between blows. Keep going until the mass turns pale, dry and layered rather than sticky. In Gaya this is done by two people taking turns, and that is not showmanship — it is how long it takes.

5. 5

   While it is still warm, press portions into flat discs. Done right they are dry to the touch and collapse into flakes when bitten, not chewy.

6. 6

   Cool completely before storing. In Bihar this is winter food because humidity softens it — in a Hyderabad summer, keep the tin sealed and eat it faster.