Baked Thekua Recipe, is a popular festive recipe from the states of Bihar and Jharkhand.
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 | Baked Thekua Recipe, 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 part of India and her blog was a treasure for me to explore some very new dishes. I chose to make this Thekua | Baked Thekua Recipe 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 and 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 – 1/2 tsp (optional)
- Jaggery / Brown sugar – 1/3 cup
- Ghee / clarified butter – 3 TBSP
- Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
- Fennel seeds – 1 tsp (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 TBSP 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.
Thekua | Baked Thekua Recipe
Ingredients
- Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
- Fine semolina / Rava / Sooji - 2 TBSP
- Baking powder - 1/2 tsp optional
- Jaggery / Brown sugar - 1/3 cup
- Ghee / clarified butter - 3 TBSP
- Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
- Fennel seeds - 1 tsp crushed
Instructions
- I used brown sugar to make the Thekua. Measure the brown sugar in a small pan and add 3 TBSP 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.
Sarvesh says
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
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks Sarvesh. I baked it for making it slightly healthier. Let me know when you try it.
Ankita says
Looks too good. Thank you for this recipe.
themadscientistskitchen says
Wow! Sandhya you have made an amazingly delicious theku! Now I need to try them out too for they sound delicious.
Sujata Roy says
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.
veena says
Sandhya these look stunning. Perfectly made and bakes. Bookmarked
Sasmita Sahoo Samanta says
Looks awesome and perfectly made… Baked version is an awesome idea !!
Priya Satheesh says
Loved your baked version of Thekua. Looks absolutely amazing and perfect !
Poonam Bachhav says
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.
Renu says
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.
Priya Suresh says
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.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks Priya! Baking it was definitely a guilt free way to enjoy these. We loved it.
Ankita says
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..
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Ankita, love recipes that brings back memories! Do give it a try. Thanks!
Shobha Keshwani says
The baked version of Thekua are looking lovely with the design on them.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks Shobha!
code2cook says
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.
Ashima says
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 😮
Priya Satheesh says
Looks awesome and perfectly made.. Bookmarking this recipe to try !
Mayuri Patel says
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.