Special Receipes

1. Thekua/Khajur 

Popularly known as Khajoor, Thekua is popular homemade dessert from Bihar and Jharkhand. Thekua is a sweet and crispy dessert prepared with whole wheat flour, sugar and chopped coconuts. Thekua is ideal dessert to carry with during long journeys as it can be stored for few days.Thekua/Khajur

 Ingredients:500 gm: Aatta (whole wheat flour)2 tbsp: Coconut (chopped)300 gm: Jaggery (Gur)4-5: Green Cardamom (peeled and mashed)Ghee (or vegetable oil)1.5 cup:WaterSaancha: (A Saancha is basically an embroidered surface of wood like the ones used for making block prints. This is used to give an embroidered look to the surface of khajoor when it gets pressed against it).

  Method of Preparation : 

 1. Mix jaggery, water, and green cardamom into a watery solution.

2. Mix 4 tbsp ghee, jaggery syrup prepared above and coconut to aatta and make dough of it same as that for making chapatis.

3. Use only as much jaggery syrup as required to make dough like the one for making chapatis.

4. Take a lump of dough (the size as that for making chapaatis), press it flat on your palm like a peda then press it against a saancha for making khajoor.

5. After the khajoor has acquired the imprint from the saancha, it is deep fried in ghee till reddish brown.

6. Ghee is strained and khajoor kept aside.7. Serve whn completely cooled. 

 

2. Puri

Ingredients:500 gm of flour2 spoonful refine oil or ghee (clarified butter)1/2 spoonful kalajeera (black cumin)
 

Method of Preparation :

1. Mix the whole amount of flour with the refine oil, kalojeera pinch of salt and sugar

2. Knead a dough

3. Make 16 equal sized balls of dough

4. Roll the balls flat and fry it in refined oil

5. Now enjoy luchi with dum alu. 

 

3. Kheer

Ingredients:Vasmati rice (shorter variety) 200gm2 and 1/2 liter of milkSugar as per taste (it is a sweet dish)Elachi 1/2 teaspoonful2 teaspoonfuls of raisins (dried grapes) and cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale)One pinch of saffron powder (optional)

Method of Preparation :

1. Rinse the rice in water, then boil it with milk in low flame. Add the cardamom. Stir continuously otherwise the milk will get burned at the base of the pot.

2. When the rice is completely boiled, add sugar and mix it homogeneously. If you like, you may add saffron to it (it is not compulsory, it is used only to color the kheer, otherwise taste remains same)

3. Your kheer is prepared now. Add raisins and cashew nut to the preparation. You may serve it hot or put it in refrigerator to serve later. 

4. Malpua/PuaIt

It is a traditional Bihari (and probably Rajasthani also) which is made  in nearly  all  festivals.Malpua

Ingredients:

 2 cups plain flour (Maida)1 cup sugar (put it as per your taste)2 bananasGroundnuts, Almonds, Cashew nuts chopped.5-6 tbsp saunf1 cup grated coconutMilk to add Oil (Groundnut/Sunflower)Ingredients for sugar solution (Chaashni)Sugar 2-3 cups2 cups of water(Prepare chaashni by putting sugar in boiling water and stirring it until a thick consistent solution is attained)

Method of Preparation

1. Mix flour, Coconut, bananas, saunf, sugar, chopped dry fruits in a bowl.

2. Add enough milk to make this into a paste.

3. Heat a non-stick tawa (flat griddle) and put 2-3 tbsp. oil in it and spread it with wooden spatula.

4. Take a small katori full of paste and spread it in round fashion in the heated tawa. Make 2-3 rounds of paste depending upon how big your pan is. Cook it in the slow heat for some time and then turn all puas to other side using a thin flat spatula.6. When you feel its done (10-12 minutes) put it in an absorbent paper for a while (so that the oil can be absorbed).Alternatively, you can also deep fry the paste in a pan in making round shapes, but better to use non stick tawa as it is remarkably less oily.The above is the recipe for pua that can be eaten both hot and cold.For malpua, soon after you take the pua from the tawa you dip it in the chaashni.