PATNA: Winter's sweet delight, "tilkut" is tantalising the taste-buds of people here. Though tilkuts are savoured on Makar Sankranti (January 14) along with traditional dahi chura (curd with rice flakes) the delicacy could be seen being sold all over the city in sweet shops, small food joints and makeshift roadside stalls this season.
"Tilkut is also called the sweet of the winter season. And people chomp on the seasonal crunchy sweet with great delight," said R K Gupta, a sweet shop owner, in Boring Canal Road.
Sweet-makers have made arrangements to cater to myriad demands of people. "For the first time we have brought in sugar-free tilkuts for diabetics. Actually, the delicacy endears everyone. But due to diabetes, several people are deprived of the heavenly delight," said Manohar Lal of Sweet Home, situated in Boring Road.
He further said: "We have sugar-free tilkuts, which we prepare at our workshop. Such tilkuts are 100 per cent harmless."
"Sugar-free tilkuts cost Rs 280 per kg. We pack them in hard designer packets to protect their crunchiness and to ensure that they do not crumble before they are used," he added.
Gupta said, "We offer three varieties of tilkuts. We have tilkuts made of khoa, sugar and jaggery. Khoa tilkuts cost Rs 200 per kg and sugar and jaggery tilkuts cost Rs 120 per kg."
Gupta further added: "Special attention has to be given to make sure the tastes of tilkuts remain delicious. One also has to be attentive while preparing tilkuts. One has to be very particular about the timing of the baking and pay attention to other details. Due to the huge demand, several sweet makers have hired confectioners to prepare the delicacy this season.
"The business of tilkut is mainly seasonal. It starts from November and continues till February, but we do good business. I have been trading in tilkut for the past 15 years. As it is a profitable venture, several sweet-makers get involved in the business," added confectioner Vinay Kumar.
A sweet-maker in Kankarbagh, who did not want to be named, said he had hired 12 karigars (confectioners) for the purpose. "We are preparing about 50 kg of tilkut daily. The demand grows between January 10 and 14. We will increase our production as Makar Sankranti draws near," the sweet-maker said.
He added: "Last year we had done a business of around Rs 2 lakh. This year we hope to increase the revenue."
Apart from tilkuts, gajat (a variety of confection like tilkut) is also available in the market. A sweet-maker, Laxman Kumar, at Mithapur, said he had brought the confection from Lucknow.
"We have kaju gajat, jaggery gajat and sugar gajat. They are being sold for Rs 200, Rs 160 and Rs 160 per kg respectively," Kumar added.
Alok K N Mishra is a Times of India journalist. He can be contacted at alokmishra.co@gmail.com.
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