Chhath Puja Offering · Fried Wheat-Jaggery Cookie

Thekua

Photo: Rohit iitr / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

In parts of Bihar and the Terai it's also called khajuria, and each piece is pressed with a carved wooden mould that stamps a pattern onto its surface before frying.

Thekua is a dense cookie of wheat flour, jaggery or sugar, and ghee, pressed into decorative wooden molds and deep-fried until reddish-brown and firm enough to keep for days without spoiling. It's sold from sweet-shop counters and festival stalls across Nepal's Madhesh, Lumbini and Koshi provinces, especially in the run-up to Chhath Puja.

Why it's made this way: As a sacred offering during Chhath Puja, thekua is traditionally prepared in a purified kitchen space, tying its production directly to one of the Terai's most important religious festivals.