Thekua

Before you start

• Dissolve the jaggery in hot water and strain it — unstrained jaggery carries grit that burns black in the frying oil.
• Let the jaggery water cool to lukewarm before it touches the flour. Hot syrup makes a sticky dough that will not hold a pattern.
• Do not rest this dough. Thekua dough should be mixed stiff and fried straight away, or the jaggery draws out moisture and it slackens.

Method

1. Heat the water with the jaggery over low heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring, until it dissolves completely, then strain and cool to lukewarm.
2. Rub the melted ghee into the atta with the salt for 3-4 minutes, until the flour looks damp and clumps when pressed.This moyan of ghee is what makes thekua short and crisp — skimp on it and you get a rock.
3. Mix in the crushed fennel, ground cardamom and grated coconut.
4. Add the jaggery water a little at a time and bring it together into a very stiff dough. Do not knead it smooth.Stop adding liquid while the dough still looks slightly crumbly; a soft dough soaks up oil and goes soggy.
5. Pinch off lime-sized pieces, roll into balls, then flatten each to about 1cm thick.
6. Press each disc onto a thekua mould, or score a criss-cross pattern with the back of a fork.
7. Heat the frying oil to 150C — low, not hot. A piece of dough should rise slowly after a few seconds.Frying too hot browns the surface while the middle stays raw. Low and slow is the whole technique.
8. Fry in batches for 8-10 minutes, turning often, until the thekua are a deep even brown and float high in the oil.
9. Lift out and drain on a rack, not on paper, and let them cool completely — they harden as they cool.Judge doneness by colour, not by feel; thekua are soft in the pan and only crisp up once cold.

Storage

Keeps 2 weeks in an airtight tin at room temperature, and this is a sweet that improves after a day or two. Do not refrigerate — the crunch goes.