This post of mine is meant for Thekua however, without mentioning little details about Chhath Puja, it is not possible for me to create the flavor of this Bihari delicacy. After all, I have spent two eventful years in Bihar thanks to my decision of working there back in 2008. I still (and will do in the future) cherish my memories of Bihar. It is worth mention about how I witnessed the festival of Chhath Puja there. I used to stay along with a Bengali family as a paying guest. They were born and brought up in Bihar. Both uncle and auntie were impromptu with the culture of Bihar. They were quite popular among the community. Needless to say, they used to get several invitations for Chhath Puja and so did I.
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Chhath Puja and Thekua Prashad!
Chhath is an Indian festival where Surya Dev (the Sun) is worshiped along with his wife who is famously known as Chhathi Maiya (Mother Chhath). this festival is meant to thank the Sun for providing the power of energy and life to human beings. The four-day-long festival is inclusive of several customs and obviously preparation of traditional Indian, to be specific Bihari food to offer as Prasad. People used to invite neighbors and friends in the evening to have Prasad and that is inclusive of homemade small Roti, Kheer prepared with Sugarcane Juice, and last but not the least "Thekua".
My thekua memories
It is not that I have had Theuka for the first time in Bihar, in fact, I had it several times before thanks to Ram Khilawan Kaku. There's a stand of hand pull Rickshaw nearby my ancestral home in Central Kolkata. The rickshaw pullers are mostly from the state of Bihar. Ram Khilawan Kaku was a very sweet Rikshaw puller with whom baba has a very good relation to date. Kaku and his fellow Rickshaw pullers used to prepare Thekua during Chhath Puja. My dad never ever failed to get my portion of the epitome of Indian cookies from them every year. Slightly nutty and chunky, properly fried, Thekua indeed is a treat one should try to experience the richness of a different kind of Indian sweets.
Recipe Card
Thekua
Thekua is a famous Bihari Cookie prepared with whole wheat flour, coconut and jaggery during Chath Puja.
Ingredients
- 300 g Whole Wheat Flour / Atta 2 cups
- 150 g Jaggery / Gur 1 cup
- 1 cup Desiccated Coconut
- 10 Green Cardamom
- 2 tablespoon Clarified Butter / Ghee
- 25 g Cashew Nut and Almond optional
- 200 ml Refined Vegetable Oil for Deep Frying
Instructions
- Make a powder of the green cardamoms and keep it aside.
- Chop cashew nuts and almonds; however, this step is optional. If you don't want to add dry fruits, then just skip them.
- I love the crunchiness of dry fruits, and I have a good stock of dry fruits after Diwali, so I have just utilized them to make thekua.
- Take Jaggery along with ½ cup of water in a pan and heat it to melt the Jaggery to prepare Jaggery water. We don't need thick syrup for this.
- Mix 1 tablespoon Ghee in the hot Jaggery water and let the water stand for 5-7 minutes.
- Now take Wheat flour along with the desiccated coconut, powdered cardamom, and chopped dry fruits in a bowl, and add a little Jaggery water and start kneading it.
- Prepare a tight dough using the entire Jaggery water. If required, add a little more wheat flour to make the dough perfect.
- Keep the dough for 5 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 20 equal portions of a size of little smaller than ping pong balls.
- Using a mold shape the Thekua. If not available with a Thekua mold, use a fork to decorate.
- Take one wheat ball and place it over the mold.
- Press it a little on the upper surface of the mold to get a decorated yet flattened small disk. If you don't want to decorate it, then just flatten a wheat ball with the help of your hands.
- Make the rest of the cookies following the same process.
- Now, heat sufficient oil along with 1 tbsp. of Ghee in a wok for deep frying.
- Start frying Thekua in a batch of 3-4, depending on the radius of the pan, in low flame till they turn golden brown in color and are thoroughly cooked from inside. Don't fry Khajur in high flame.
- Prepare the rest of the Thekua and place those on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- Thekua can be stored in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Indian Dessert Recipes
- Narkel Chapa | Narkel Tokti | Bengali Coconut Sondesh
- Taler Patishapta Pitha
- Sheer Khurma
- Halwai Style Balushahi!
- Motichur Ladoo | Motichur Laddu | Motichoor Laddu
- Chaler Payesh aka Bengali Rice Kheer
- Nolen Gurer Sandesh
Have you tried the Thekua recipe from Debjanir Rannaghar!
I would love to see a picture if you are making it following my recipe. You can share here on [email protected]. You can use my hashtag #debjanirrannaghar and share it through Instagram as well. and in addition, you can tag me at @foodofdebjani.
Here's the Thekua Recipe Pin for your Pinterest Board!
About Debjani Chatterjee Alam
I am Debjani Chatterjee Alam. A CSR specialist by profession and a food writer, food blogger, and food photographer as well. I live in Kolkata along with my Husband Mehebub who is an architect by profession, my daughter Pasta, and also my dog daughters Coffee and Luchi.
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