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Thekua or also spelt Thokwa or Thekari is a dry sweet from the Indian subcontinent. It is very popular and one of the most loved sweets in Bihar, Madhesh, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh (Purvanchal). It's crispy, crunchy and dry sweet dish.

Thekua is a revered prasad in the Chhath puja. It has been used as a sweet snack for centuries in these places.

Traditionally, Thekua is made with gud or jaggery, however, however you can make it with sugar also. Some variations of this Bihari recipe also use fennel seeds to accentuate the taste.

The main ingredients of Thekua are wheat flour, chasni (melted sugar) and ghee. Jaggery can sometimes be used as an alternative to sugar. Dough is prepared using these four main ingredients and cardamom can be added to enhance the taste. Dough is deep fried in ghee or vegetable oil till it becomes reddish brown.

It is soft when hot but hardens after it cools. It needs no preservatives and it can be preserved for several days for eating.

Thekua and 'litti chokha' are some delicacies offered from Bihar that have gained popularity all over India.

I learned this from my husband. They used to cook on special occasions and thekua is on of his favourite indian sweets.

Ingredients

Preparation

• Take wheat flour in a bowl. Add rava (semolina), grated coconut, powdered sugar, chopped cashew nuts, chopped almonds and green cardamom powder into it.

• Now add  ghee and mix it for few minutes till it becomes like a crumble. Use your hand to mix it well.

• Sprinkle some water into it and knead it into a stiff dough. Make sure that the dough should not be soft.

• When the dough is ready, squeeze out the dough in equal quantities and make some balls out of it.

• Drizzle a little oil on the prepared ball, and flatten them a little using a rolling pin. Or you may roll out the dough into a thick disc and then cut it into like small cookies with the help of cookie cutter.

• Heat oil in a pan or a karai on a medium flame. When the oil gets hot, slightly drop rolled discs of thekua into it.

• Turn the thekuas after 2 mins approximately.

• Deep fry the cookies/thekua on both sides till they become crispy and golden brown.

• Take them out on an absorbent paper or paper towel.

• Repeat the above procedure and deep fry the remaining cookies/thekua.

• Cool them and store in an air tight container.

• Serve Thekuas as snack for tea.