Thekua Recipe (Chaath Puja Special Sweet)

Thekua are traditional deep fried cookies made with whole wheat flour, jaggery, coconut and ghee. They are flavored with fennel and cardamom, which give them a warm, aromatic taste. The cookies are crisp and crunchy with a slightly dense texture. Thekua is a popular sweet prepared during the Chhath Puja festival in the eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand.

What is Thekua

Thekua is a traditional sweet from Eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkand. It is made during Chhath Puja, a festival dedicated to the Sun God (Surya Devta).

You might already know another well-loved dish from Bihar that is Litti Chokha. Both these recipes show how simple ingredients can create comforting, rustic food that people enjoy across generations.

Thekua is a whole wheat cookie that is deep fried. The sweet aroma of fennel seeds and cardamom plays beautifully with the caramel-molasses flavor from jaggery.

This recipe will give you crispy and crunchy exterior with a soft interior, which to me is perfect for a cookie. Thekua have uneven cracked edges, making them both rustic as well as crunchy.

They will not look like a perfectly even cookie! The signature of a perfectly made thekua will be the uneven edges, so do not worry if they are a tad misshapen.

Traditionally moulds with leaf or round patterns are used. Not to worry if you do not have these decorative moulds. You could use a cookie press, or even make designs on these fried cookies with a tooth pick or a wooden skewer.

As cooler weather approaches and the days become shorter, the tradition of tea time becomes even more important to me.

This thekua recipe is a delightful treat to serve with a warm cup of your favorite chai, as their crunchy exteriors make them a perfect dipping cookie.

If you’re in need of something to look forward in the darker afternoons, try these delightful Indian cookie.

Is Thekua the same as Khajuri?

While the two Indian sweets are quite similar in how they are made and even in their taste profile, thekua and khajuri are actually different sweets.

The difference between thekua and khajuri is that thekua is made from whole wheat flour and jaggery, while khajuri is made with all-purpose flour and sugar.

How to Make Thekua (Step-By-Step)

With my step-by-step photo instructions, you can make thekua easily and perfectly every time.

Make Thekua Dough

1. Whisk together the below listed dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

• 1.25 cups whole wheat flour (155 to 160 grams)
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated coconut or desiccated coconut
• ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder

2. Melt 3 tablespoons ghee (25 grams) until hot. 

3. Add hot ghee to the dry ingredients. 

4. Mix with a spoon. 

5. Ensure that the mixture is warm or cool enough to handle and then mix the ghee with the flour until you get a breadcrumb-like consistency.

When you press the mixture it should form a lump and not fall apart. 

6. Mix ½ cup chopped jaggery (85 grams) with ¼ cup water in a small saucepan. 

7. Heat until all the jaggery melts on a medium-low heat. 

8. Add hot jaggery solution to the flour, working in small batches. Add a few tablespoons of the jaggery liquid at a time.

9. Mix with a spoon first. 

10. Keep on adding in jaggery solution and mixing. Continue until all of the jaggery solution has been added. 

Then mix and begin to bring the entire dough together and knead lightly. Do not overwork the dough.

Make a firm or semi-soft dough. Cover with a lid or kitchen cotton towel and rest for 15 minutes. 

If the dough has become sticky, add some flour and mix. If it looks dry or crumbly, add some water and combine with the dough.

Shape Dough

11. Make small balls from the dough. You can use a small “disher” or ice cream scoop to achieve even quantities of dough.

12. Flatten lightly with your palms or with a rolling pin. 

13. Make patterns on the pressed dough using a fork or a toothpick or bamboo skewer.

14. You can make any patterns you like!

15. You can also press with a Peda (Indian milk fudge) maker or a cookie press, or use cookie stamps.

Keep the prepared discs covered with a kitchen napkin to preserve moisture until ready to fry. 

Fry Thekua

16. Heat 1.5 cups oil in a kadai or wok. Check a small piece of dough in the oil. If it is comes up gradually on top, the oil is hot. 

Then lower the heat to low or medium-low and gently place the thekua in hot oil. Do not overcrowd the oil with the discs while frying.

You can use a heavy bottomed saucepan and a neutral flavored, high smoke point oil. Canola, sunflower, peanut, vegetable or grapeseed oil are some choices.

17. When one side is golden, gently turn over and fry the second side. Be very careful when turning and do it gently with a dinner spoon so that they do not break. 

Turn over a couple of times and fry till golden and crisp. Jaggery gives a deeper golden color unlike plain sugar. 

18. Place on kitchen paper towels to drain. 

In batches fry the remaining shaped cookies until golden & crisp and then place them on kitchen paper towels.

When the thekua are cooled to room temperature, store in an airtight container. 

Serve Thekua as a tea time snack or to celebrate Chaath Puja. Enjoy!

Storage Suggestions

Always store these Indian cookies in an air-tight jar or container. They keep well at room temperature for about a week. You can also opt to store them in the fridge.

If you make thekua with milk, store them in the fridge in an air-tight container.

Ingredient Variations

• Liquids: You can easily swap water with milk. A version of thekua is made with milk which makes it even more richer.
• Jaggery: If you are unable to find jaggery, you can substitute dark brown sugar, light brown sugar or granulated white sugar, raw sugar and even molasses. Just note that the complex flavor of the jaggery will be missing from your final product.
• Coconut: You can either use dry desiccated coconut or fresh grated coconut. If not available, then choose to skip it.
• Spices: Both the spices fennel seeds and cardamom powder are essential, so these cannot be skipped.
• Flour: For a lighter and more tender variation of thekua, you can use all-purpose flour (maida) or even equal proportions of whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour. But note that you will need to add less water when using all-purpose flour.

Dough Troubleshooting Tips

What you are looking for is a dough that has a little bit of elasticity. It should be somewhere between a semi-soft and a firm dough.

• If your dough looks crumbly and dry, add a few tablespoons of water. Mix and lightly knead again.
• If your dough has become sticky or too soft, add a few tablespoons of flour. Combine the flour with the remaining dough by mixing and lightly kneading.

Once you make this thekua recipe a few times, you’ll be able to intuit the right consistency a bit more easily!

Why are my thekua becoming so dark?

Thekua should fry to a golden brown color. The hot oil should ideally be between 180°C to 190°C (360°F to 375°F).

If you do not have a thermometer, you can check the oil temperature in a few simple ways:

1. Drop a small piece of dough into the oil. If it slowly rises and bubbles gently, the oil is ready.
2. Drop a small cube of bread into the oil. If it turns golden in about 60 seconds, the oil temperature is correct.
3. You can also drop a popcorn kernel in the oil while heating. It pops around 180°C, indicating the oil is ready.

Do not fry on high heat. The thekua will darken too quickly while the inside remains undercooked. Fry on low to medium-low heat.

Turn the cookies gently once one side becomes golden. Use two chopsticks or a spider skimmer to flip them carefully.

FAQS

More Tasty Sweets Recipes For You

• Pinni Recipe
• Gulgule Recipe
• Balushahi Recipe
• Shakkarpare Recipe

Thekua recipe from the blog archives was first published on November 2020.