Thekua

Thekua – The Indian Cookie

I wanted to post this traditional recipe of Thekua, the ancient Indian cookies, right before the holdiay season ends. I know I am late but better being late than never. 🙂 I hope my Indian readers will enjoy the nostalgic flavours of cardamom and jaggery which come together to give the most delectable combination that can ever be concocted.

The Thekua recipe had featured in some newspaper during Chhath Puja, which is celebrated in honour of the Sun God in the eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP. It is prepared as an offering or a prasad to the Surya devta on this festival. Note that this is an ancient recipe and is mentioned in our Rigveda (almost a 3700-years-old recipe!). Fascinated by its looks and simple ingredients, I tried making this dish for the very first time last month. Yumm!, I was blown away by its flavours, and I decided to share the recipe here with you all.

The recipe is so easy and quick and needs ingredients that are often found in our Indian pantries. It stores well too for a couple of weeks until unless you gobble them up quickly. One thekua is quite filling; and is a good after-school snack for kids and a nice tea-time snack for us adults too. I hope you too enjoy this simple and rustic recipe as much as I did. So why wait? Go ahead and make it quickly 🙂

Thekua Recipe

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbsp dessicated/freshly grated coconut

0.5-1 tsp fennel seeds ( I personally don’t like the strong flavour of fennels seeds so I took just half a teaspoon; not optional though)

0.5 tsp cardamom powder

a pinch of salt (jaggery too does have salt so take just a pinch, not more; not optional)

3-4 tbsp melted ghee (to give a crumbly texture to the flour). Do not add excess ghee as it can make the thekuas brittle

Wet ingredients:

0.5 cup jaggery

0.25 cup water to make the jaggery syrup

a few spoons of warm water/milk as needed to knead the dough

Oil for frying or alternatively you can bake the thekuas at 180 C for 15-20 minutes till they turn golden brown. (Will not recommend baking though if you are making it for the first time as I want you to enjoy the true authentic flavours of this ancient dish.)

Prepare the dry ingredients:

Mix the dry ingredients excluding ghee well. Then, add the melted ghee and mix well till you get a crumbly mixture like that of breadcrumbs or an almost dry upma. Test the readiness of the flour mixture by pressing it your fist. It should hold shape and not crumble down.

Make the Jaggery Syrup:

Next, make the jaggery syrup by melting the jaggery in water and strain it when ready. Add this jaggery syrup slowly to the prepared flour mixture slowly spoon by spoon and mix it when hot using a spoon or a flat spatula. When comfortable to touch, mix it well using your hands to make a stiff dough. You can add a few spoons of warm water or milk if the dough is too dry. Rest it for at least 15 minutes by covering it with a lid or a towel. Knead it again after the resting period.

Shape the thekuas:

Finally, shape the thekuas into small, equal thick discs using your hands to flatten them and make designs on them using your creativity. I used a toothpick to draw lines on them resembling the rays of the sun (as they are an offering to the Sun God and his consort). Nice, right?

Deep fry the thekuas:

Lastly, we need to deep fry the thekuas in hot oil. However, let’s test-fry one thekua first to see the outcome. Let the oil become sufficiently hot and drop a small thekua in it. Lower the heat to low and allow the thekua to get fried nicely on one side for a minute or so. Flip the thekua carefully and continue with the frying till you get a deep brown colour to it. (Make sure that the heat is carefully adjusted and the oil is not too hot as the thekuas will not get cooked well or might get burnt.)

The jaggery will give the deep colour to thekua and that’s alright. It won’t turn golden brown as it would with sugar. Thekuas are soft to touch when hot; however, they turn crisp and firm once they cool down. The edges are a bit cracked and not smooth and that’s how they are supposed to be.

Continue with the frying process and serve them with a side of spicy pickle as is done traditionally. Store the thekuas in an air-tight container once they cool down.

Do try this simple and wholesome recipe this holiday season and let me know how you liked it in the comments.