Baked Thekua – Popular Festive Recipe From Bihar And Jharkhand

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.

5 from 7 votes

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Thekua | Baked Thekua Recipe

Thekua | Baked Thekua Recipe, is a popular festive recipe from the states of Bihar and Jharkhand.

Course Baking, Dessert, Festival Recipes

Cuisine Bihar, Indian, Jharkhand

Keyword Baking, dessert, festival recipes, snacks

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 12 Servings

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

1. 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.
2. In a medium bowl, add the flour, semolina, crushed fennel seeds, cardamom powder and baking powder.
3. Add the ghee to the flour and ix it well until it resembles the texture of bread crumbs.
4. Now slowly add the brown sugar syrup to the flour mixture and knead to from a stiff dough.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking pan with parchment.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Cool the Thekua entirely before storing them in an air tight container.
10. Enjoy as a snack or with evening tea.