Ranchi, Jan. 13: Just like Christmas is incomplete without cakes or Diwali without besan ka ladoos, the flavour goes out of the Makar Sankranti platter in the absence of tilkuts.

With the city gearing up to celebrate the festival tomorrow, the sweet made from tils (seasame seeds) are flooding the sweet and confectionery shops.

“Apart from the age-old tilkuts made from sugar and jaggery, there are khowa tilkut, keshar tilkut, mewa tilkut and those made from pista. We have included these varieties in our stock this year in keeping with the market demand. The younger generation wants something more than the traditional gud ka tilkut,” said Basant Lal, a tilkut seller at Mahavir Chowk, a street famous for the item during Makar Sankranti.

“Although, til items start selling from the end of December, we start making preparations for Sankranti a month ahead.

“Sesame seeds pruned from the fields are thrashed and stored days in advance. They are then mixed with the molten sugar, turned into cakes of various shapes and sizes and garnished as per taste,”said Ratan Saav, a tilkut vendor on Ratu Road.

There is also a group from Ramgarh, Khunti and Gumla, who sell fresh sweetmeats, made minutes before they are sold.

The plain tilkuts made of jaggery or sugar range from Rs 60 to Rs 150 per kg, while the khowa and keshar ones cost Rs 250 to Rs 300 a kg.