Baked Thekua - Popular Festive Recipe From Bihar And Jharkhand

Baked Thekua Recipe, is a popular festive recipe from the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. It is a great snack recipe and very quick and easy to make.

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'.

Baked Thekua in a black plate

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 minutes
Baking time - 12 to 15 minutes
Difficulty level - Easy
Recipe 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)
Baked Thekua in a black plate

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.
Making the syrup.
  • 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.
Making the 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.
Assembling dougb
  • 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.
Baked Thekua dough
  • Cool the Thekua entirely before storing them in an air-tight container.
  • Enjoy as a snack or with evening tea.
Thekua arranged in a black plate

Similar Recipes

 If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter/X

Recipe

Thekua | Baked Thekua Recipe

Thekua | Baked Thekua Recipe

Baked Thekua Recipe, is a popular festive recipe from the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. It is a great snack recipe and very quick and easy to make.
5 from 9 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Baking, Dessert, Festival Recipes
Cuisine: Bihar, Indian, Jharkhand
Diet: Vegetarian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 12 Servings
Calories: 100kcal

Equipment

  • Oven

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Whole wheat flour
  • 2 tablespoon Fine semolina / Rava / Sooji
  • ½ teaspoon Baking powder optional
  • cup Jaggery / Brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoon Ghee / clarified butte
  • ½ teaspoon Cardamom powder
  • 1 teaspoon Fennel seeds crushed

Instructions

  • 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 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 ix it well until it resembles the texture of bread crumbs.
  • Now slowly add the brown sugar syrup to the flour mixture and knead to from a stiff dough.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking pan with parchment.
  • Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and 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 it cools down.
  • Cool the Thekua entirely before storing them in an air tight container.
  • Enjoy as a snack or with evening tea.

Nutrition

Calories: 100kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 21mg | Potassium: 41mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @Sandhya.Ramakrishnan or tag #MyCookingJourney!

20 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    The thekua (khaboni) looks awesome sandhya mam. I saw this baked thekua for the first time and i am gonna try this. I am from bihar and my family use to make thekua twice or thrice a year. we make thekua without baking and we fry it in oil instead. lovely recipe

    1. Thanks Sarvesh. I baked it for making it slightly healthier. Let me know when you try it.

  2. 5 stars
    Wow! Sandhya you have made an amazingly delicious theku! Now I need to try them out too for they sound delicious.

  3. Loved how beautifully you made these. Looks really pretty. I love thekua and miss my hometown. You made the thekua guilt free by baking it. Awesome share.

  4. 5 stars
    The thekua look stunning Sandhya ! You have done a fantastic job and your presentation is making it all the more inviting. I am so glad that the recipe turned out great and you enjoyed it.

  5. 5 stars
    So nicely baked thekua, loved the recipe and the pattern you have made on the top. It really adds to the beauty of the thekua. Would definitely love to try this.

  6. Just wowwing here, have tried fried thekua and these baked version sounds absolutely incredible. And look at those baked thekua, am in love with this guilt free version.

  7. Lots of old memories related to this recipe..first tm tasted it when one of my bihari friend brought this. Thnx for sharing..Will try soon..

  8. 5 stars
    I am one crazy person to love thekua. First time we tasted in while studying. One of my classmate from Ranchi brought it. looking so tempting to grab them out of the screen. pack some and send. drooling here.

  9. 5 stars
    They look so perfect! Thekua and mathris might just be the first cookies of India! I always wonder how and when we lost our traditional "cookies" to the Western world cookies 😮

  10. 5 stars
    When Poonam made these cookies for a group we're both members of, I'd bookmarked the recipe as I liked how she had made the thekua. Love your preparation too and now double temptation to try this recipe out as soon as possible.

5 from 9 votes (1 rating without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.