Indian Cuisine is a treasure of recipes and the more we dig into a particular cuisine, the more we come across traditional recipes. I am part of a Facebook Group called ‘Recipe Swap Challenge’.
Each participating member is paired with another member and we have to cook from our pair’s blog. This month, I am paired with Poonam Bachhav, who blogs at ‘Annapurna’.
I chose to make this Thekua, which is a popular snack as well as a festival recipe from the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Poonam has a wide variety of traditional recipes from the Northern and Central parts of India and her blog was a treasure for me to explore some very new dishes.
I chose to make this Baked Thekua from her blog as this was an entirely new recipe for me and also the ingredients are something that I love. It is a great snack recipe and very quick and easy to make.
I learned that the Thekua is made as a prasad/offering for the Chhath Puja, Saraswathi Puja, and also on other festive occasions. Traditionally, these Thekuas are deep fried, but Poonam had baked them instead.
That caught my eye right away and I was even more tempted to make them. What could be a more apt time for making these Thekua other than this Navartri time hence I started on the recipe right away.
I followed Poonam’s recipe as is except increased the sweetness a little bit as we like slightly sweeter cookies. The Thekua is flavored with cardamom, fennel, and ghee and it is just so aromatic. Do not substitute the ghee with butter or any other fat as it will not be as flavorful as this one.
Preparation time - 10 minutesBaking time - 12 to 15 minutesDifficulty level - EasyRecipe adapted from - Annapurna
Ingredients to make Baked Thekua Recipe - Makes 12
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup Fine semolina / Rava / Sooji - 2 TBSP Baking powder - ½ teaspoon (optional) Jaggery / Brown sugar - ⅓ cup Ghee / clarified butter - 3 TBSP Cardamom powder - ½ tsp Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon (crushed)
Procedure to Make Baked Thekua Recipe
I used brown sugar to make the Thekua. Measure the brown sugar in a small pan and add 3 tablespoon of water to it. Heat it on a low flame to melt the sugar and then turn off the flame and keep it aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, add the flour, semolina, crushed fennel seeds, cardamom powder, and baking powder.
Add the ghee to the flour and mix it well until it resembles the texture of bread crumbs.
Now slowly add the brown sugar syrup to the flour mixture and knead to form a stiff dough.
Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking pan with parchment.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces roll each piece into a ball and then flatten it with your palm. Place the shaped dough on the prepared baking pan.
If you like, using a toothpick, you can decorate the Thekua with some patterns. I just drew some lines and dots to make it pretty.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the Thekua turn light brown. They will be still a little soft when you take them out of the oven but will harden as they cool down.
Cool the Thekua entirely before storing them in an air-tight container.
Enjoy as a snack or with evening tea.
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