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घाट से घर तक, ठेकुआ का स्वाद

Thekua, the prasad of Chhath, made the way it’s made at home

Every Chhath, thekua is pressed at home and held up in the soop to the setting and the rising sun. Two friends from Adra set out to bring that taste to every day of the year: hand-pressed, hygienically made and fairly priced.

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  • Hand-pressed in wooden moulds
  • Desi ghee, never palm oil
  • No preservatives
  • FSSAI-licensed kitchen

Chhath Pujaछठ पूजा

Four days of devotion, with thekua at the heart of it

Chhath is the festival of the sun, kept across Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern UP and the Nepal Terai. Vratis fast, bathe at the ghat and offer arghya to Surya Dev and Chhathi Maiya: first to the setting sun, then to the rising sun. Thekua, made at home after Kharna, fills the soop that is held up to the sun.

  1. Day 1Fri, 13 Nov

    नहाय खायNahay Khay

    A holy bath at dawn, a cleaned home and path to the ghat, and one sattvik meal: kaddu-bhaat with chana dal, no onion or garlic.

    Kaddu-bhaat

  2. Day 2Sat, 14 Nov

    खरनाKharna

    A fast through the day. After the evening puja, rasiya (kheer made with gur) and roti are offered as prasad. Then the 36-hour nirjala fast begins.

    Rasiya and roti

  3. Day 3Sun, 15 Nov

    संध्या अर्घ्यSandhya Arghya

    The soops and daura go to the ghat, filled with thekua, fruit, sugarcane and coconut. Standing in the water, vratis offer arghya to the setting sun.

    Thekua in the soop, for the setting sun

  4. Day 4Mon, 16 Nov

    उषा अर्घ्यUsha Arghya

    Back at the ghat before dawn for arghya to the rising sun. Then vratis break the fast, and the prasad, thekua included, is shared with everyone.

    Thekua in the soop, for the rising sun

Dates for 2026 as per Drik Panchang (Patna). Arghya follows local sunset and sunrise, so times vary by city.

How it startedशुरुआत

It began with a craving for thekua

  1. Jayanta, age 16

    A street-stall lesson

    Jayanta was 16 when he first saw a child eating thekua at a street stall. “Papa, yeh kya hai?” he asked, and begged for some. His father warned him that street-stall thekua wasn’t made hygienically and could make him ill. Jayanta insisted anyway, and the next day he fell sick, just as his father had said. That stuck with him.

  2. A year later, at Chhath

    A Chhath-time discovery

    During Chhath Puja, his best friend Kailash handed him a bought packet of thekua. It tasted heavenly, but it was expensive and only around at festival time. Soon the two friends noticed the same story with besan laddoo, makhana and banana chips: unhygienic on the street, overpriced in shops, or limited to one state and one season.

    Folk-art illustration of two friends laughing over a basket of thekua

  3. Early 2025 · Adra, West Bengal

    Shuddh Swad is born

    So in early 2025, with about ₹10,000, they started Shuddh Swad in Adra, West Bengal. It began not in an office but in conversations between two friends, and they launched it on Instagram. The vision hasn’t changed: premium, hygienic traditional snacks at fair prices, available all year, across India.

    A single thekua with its sun-like mould print

  4. Today

    A ₹1 crore promise, kept

    They set themselves a public challenge on Instagram: a ₹1 crore company in one year. They got there in about six months. Today Shuddh Swad Pvt. Ltd. hand-presses thekua in wooden moulds in an FSSAI-licensed kitchen and ships it across India. You may have seen our founders on Bharat Ke Super Founders (Amazon MX Player), and you can also find us on Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho and Blinkit.

    A stack of Shuddh Swad thekua on a wooden stump, the Suji pack behind

In numbersआँकड़ों में

  • roughly what we started with, in early 2025

  • about how long our ₹1 crore challenge took (we gave ourselves a year)

  • West Bengal: where we began, and where we’re based

  • we ship our thekua across India

How it’s madeहाथ से, साँचे में

Pressed by hand, one thekua at a time

A traditional Bihari recipe, made in an FSSAI-licensed kitchen the same careful way, every time.

Elaichi thekua with coconut, suji, cardamom and the pack
Close-up of thekua showing the wooden-mould print

  1. Simple, honest ingredients

    Whole wheat flour and suji, coconut, desi ghee, refined sunflower oil, cashew, almond, elaichi and fennel, sweetened with sugar or jaggery. What’s printed on the pack is what goes in.

  2. Kneaded with desi ghee

    Desi ghee is worked into the flour and suji before the dough is shaped.

  3. Shaped in a wooden saancha

    Each thekua is pressed into a carved wooden mould, which gives it the sun-like print it has always had.

  4. Fried slow, packed with care

    Fried slowly till golden, then cooled and packed.

  • Desi ghee, never palm oil
  • No preservatives
  • FSSAI Lic. no. 12825999001031

The foundersसंस्थापक

Two friends, one promise

  • Jayanta Karmakar, founder of Shuddh Swad

    Jayanta Karmakar

    जयंत कर्मकार

    Founder

    He fell ill from street-stall thekua at 16. In early 2025 he and Kailash started Shuddh Swad so nobody has to choose between taste and hygiene.

  • Kailash Bouri, co-founder of Shuddh Swad

    Kailash Bouri

    कैलाश बाउरी

    Co-founder

    Jayanta’s best friend, who handed him that first packet of Chhath thekua, and his partner in starting Shuddh Swad with about ₹10,000.

“Taste that comes from the hands can’t come from a machine. Ghee and love are the ingredients that matter most.”

— Dadi Ji, our founding inspiration

इस छठ, घर का स्वाद

Bring the taste of Chhath home

Traditional, Jaggery or Elaichi: hand-pressed thekua, packed for your family table, this Chhath and every day after.

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