Ask anyone from Bihar what Chhath smells like and they will tell you: jaggery melting, ghee warming, and thekua frying in the kadhai late into the night. Thekua is the most important prasad of Chhath Puja, and every family has its own way of making it. Here is a simple, traditional recipe you can make at home.
Ingredients (makes about 18–20 thekua)
- 2 cups (about 250 g) whole wheat flour (atta)
- ¾ cup (about 150 g) jaggery, grated or broken into small pieces
- ½ cup water
- 4 tbsp ghee for the dough (moyan)
- 2 tbsp desiccated coconut
- 1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
- ½ tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tbsp finely chopped cashew or almond (optional)
- Ghee or oil for deep frying
You will also need a wooden thekua mould (sancha). If you do not have one, you can press a simple pattern with a fork.
Method
- Dissolve the jaggery. Warm the water in a pan, add the jaggery and stir on low heat until it melts completely. Do not cook it into a thick syrup; you only need it dissolved. Strain it and let it cool until lukewarm.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, add the atta, coconut, saunf, cardamom and dry fruits. Add the ghee and rub it into the flour with your fingertips for 2–3 minutes. When you press a handful, it should hold its shape like wet sand.
- Knead a stiff dough. Add the jaggery water little by little and knead into a firm, tight dough. It should be much stiffer than roti dough. Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Shape. Take a lemon-sized ball of dough, flatten it slightly and press it firmly into the greased sancha to get the pattern, then lift it out gently. Keep the shaped thekua covered with a cloth while you make the rest.
- Fry slowly. Heat the ghee or oil, then turn the flame down to low-medium. Fry a few thekua at a time, turning now and then, for 7–8 minutes until they are deep golden brown on both sides.
- Cool completely. Drain on a plate and let them cool fully. Thekua turns crisp as it cools.
Tips for perfect thekua
- Stiff dough means crisp thekua. If your thekua turns out soft or oily, the dough was too wet.
- Test the oil. Drop in a small piece of dough. It should rise slowly to the top, not shoot up sizzling. If the oil is too hot, the outside browns while the inside stays raw.
- Sugar instead of jaggery? Dissolve sugar in water the same way. Jaggery gives the deeper colour and the classic Chhath taste.
- Add suji for crunch. Some families replace a quarter of the atta with suji (semolina) for an extra crunchy bite.
- Storage: in an airtight container, homemade thekua stays good for 10–15 days.
Making thekua as Chhath prasad
When thekua is made as prasad, families take extra care. The kitchen is cleaned thoroughly, onion and garlic are kept out, and many families use fresh utensils and a separate chulha. Nobody tastes the prasad before it is offered. Most families make thekua on the day of the Sandhya Arghya (in 2026, Sunday 15 November), and some start the night after Kharna.
No time to make it this year?
Living away from home, working through the festival week, or just do not have a sancha? We make our thekua the traditional way in our kitchen in Adra: hand-pressed in a wooden mould and fried fresh, with no preservatives. Try our Jaggery Thekua, the closest to the classic Chhath taste, or the Thekua Trio with all three flavours.
Order by Wednesday 4 November to get it before Chhath, and use code IND25 at checkout for 25% off. Read more about Chhath Puja 2026 dates and rituals.
