Thekua for Chhath, step by step
50 minutes · About 20 pieces
Thekua keeps for a fortnight and only gets better after a day, which is exactly why it became Chhath's travelling prasad. The trick is a stiff dough and patient frying.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup grated jaggery
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 tbsp ghee (for the dough) plus oil for frying
- 2 tbsp grated dry coconut
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
Method
- 1Melt the jaggery in the water over low heat, then cool it until just warm and strain out any grit.
- 2Rub the ghee into the flour with the coconut, fennel and cardamom until it looks like coarse crumbs.
- 3Add the jaggery water a little at a time and bring the mix together into a stiff, barely-sticky dough. Do not knead it soft.
- 4Pinch off walnut-sized pieces, press each into a thekua mould or flatten and mark with a fork.
- 5Fry in medium-low oil, turning often, for 6–8 minutes until deep reddish-brown all the way through. Rushing the heat leaves the centre raw.
- 6Drain well and cool completely before storing — they crisp up as they sit.
