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Thekua
Wheat and jaggery cookies
Bihar's Chhath Puja cookies (ठेकुआ) of wheat, jaggery, ghee and fennel, pressed in a carved mould and fried slowly
During Chhath Puja, when families across Bihar stand in rivers and ponds to make offerings to the setting and rising sun, thekua fill the bamboo baskets carried to the ghats. Women make them at home in the days before, pressing jaggery-sweetened wheat dough into carved wooden moulds (sancha) and frying them in ghee until dark and crunchy. Outside the festival they are the snack Bihari students take back to hostels in the city, because they keep for weeks. Chef's tip: the dough must be stiff, and the frying slow; soft dough loses the pattern and hot oil leaves them pale and soft inside.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
- 5 ½ oz jaggerygrated
- ½ cup water
- 10 ½ oz wholewheat flour (atta)
- 1 ¾ oz gheemelted, for the dough
- 1 oz desiccated coconut
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 2 cups ghee or vegetable oilfor frying
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What you'll need
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Warm 5 ½ oz jaggery and ½ cup water on low heat, stirring, until the jaggery dissolves, about 3 minutes. Cool until lukewarm.
10 minStep 2: Mix 10 ½ oz wholewheat flour (atta), 1 oz desiccated coconut, 1 tbsp fennel seeds and ½ tsp ground cardamom. Pour in 1 ¾ oz ghee and rub with your fingertips for 2 minutes until a handful holds its shape when squeezed.
Step 3: Add the jaggery water a little at a time and knead to a stiff, smooth dough, much firmer than chapati dough. A soft dough is the usual mistake: the shapes blur and the thekua spread in the oil. Rest for 10 minutes.
10 minStep 4: Pinch off 20 lime-sized balls. Press each into a greased thekua mould, or flatten to a 1 cm thick oval and press with the back of a fork or a clean comb to make lines.
Step 5: Heat 2 cups ghee or vegetable oil in a kadai on medium, then lower to medium-low (about 300°F), when a piece of dough rises slowly with gentle bubbles. Fry 6–7 thekua at a time for 8–10 minutes, turning once or twice, until deep reddish-brown and the bubbling slows.
30 minStep 6: Drain and cool on a rack. They are slightly soft when hot and turn crunchy as they cool. Keep in an airtight tin for up to 3 weeks.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 260 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does thekua take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of jaggery?
- Dark brown or muscovado sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of ghee?
- Butter, same amount (keep the heat a little lower, butter burns sooner).
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