Sun is the most powerful of all cosmic bodies. Our whole existence revolves around sun. Our ancestors realized very early on that we would be nowhere without the sun. Hence celebrating ‘Sun’ is important in our lives. “Chhat Pooja ” a celebration of Sun.
Thekuas are the sweets associated with “Chhat pooja”. There are many ways of whipping up these beauties. I have a recipe with All purpose flour and sugar, here. These ones are the healthier version using Whole wheat flour and jaggery.
Give it a try, it stores very well. Excellent for travel or for a student in the dorm!
Recipe : made 25 pieces
Ingredients;
Wholewheat flour ( Attta ) 2 cups
Gur ( Jaggery ) 1 cup
Grated coconut 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder 1/4 tsp
Ghee 3 tbsps
Saunf ( aniseed ) 1 tbsp
Canola oil for frying
Method;
Take the jaggery and half cup water on medium flame, let it melt. Turn the gas off. Let the mixture cool completely. Set aside.
Take the flour, ghee and cardamom powder in a bowl. Mix. Rub the ghee and flour with both your hands, so that the flour grains are coated with ghee. Take a bit of this mixture and press tight, it should hold like a ball. If not add a bit more ghee.
Now add the aniseeds, jaggery syrup, a little bit at a time, to form a tight dough. Let it rest covered for half hour.
Divide the dough into a tablespoon amount to form balls, flatten it like a disc. If you have the “Thekua” mold press the disc on it. If you do not have the mold use the back of the glass or end of the fork to imprint a design.
Deep fry in canola oil, on low to medium heat. When one side gets light brown colour, very gently flip it over, fry the other side. It took about 15 minutes to fry a batch.
Collect them on kitchen towel. Let it stand on cooling rack.
It can be stored in air tight container for about two weeks.
Enjoy!
