Tea Kadai Thengai Biscuit anyone??? nostalgic snacks haunts me now andthen and this one was on my list for a very long time… coconut macaroon may be a fancy term for these cookies but “thenga biscuitu” is what we use to call it back during my childhood days.. This is slowly disappearing from tea kadai’s, also bakeries sell more fancy western pastries and these 70s, 80s snacks are totally forgotten…& only available only in few village tea kadai or bakeries . I can never get this here in USA and had to make a batch to treat myself! Here you go…. please do share a click if you happen to try these.
Some biscuit recipes to try…
Ingredients
- Fresh Grated coconut – 1 & 1/4 cup
- Egg white – 1
- Sugar – 1/2 cup (powdered)
- Maida – 2 teaspoons
- Salt – 1 pinch
- Cardamom – 1
Lets see how to make this tea kadai thengai biscuit
Grate fresh coconut and keep it aside. (You may use dry desiccated coconut instead… but fresh coconut gives use that authentic taste)
Dry fry the fresh coconut till it becomes lightly dry and golden.
Do not brown… you need tiny golden spots here and there. Completely cool and keep aside.
Mean while add in one cardamom to regular sugar.
Grind in a mixer to a powder and keep that ready. ( You may use plain white sugar.. i have used raw sugar (turbinado) which gives natural brown color and light caramel taste.
Take one egg in a bowl , add in a pinch of salt.
Whisk for few minutes until the becomes foamy and light.
Now add in powdered sugar.
Whisk again to make it creamy.
Now add in the roasted coconut and mix well.
At this stage the mixture will look chunky.
Add maida/ refined all purpose flour… and mix. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up.
Preheat oven to 350 – line a baking tray with parchment and place little scoops of the coconut mixture leaving 2 inch gap between each. ( My first batch was sticking to the tray… made a mistake 🙄 so please line the tray with parchment paper)
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Each oven is different… so cook for 18 minutes first and increment if needed.
Notes
- Makes 1 dozen
- You may add flavoring like vanilla or almond essence… traditional thengai biscuit includes only cardamom.
- Oven time varies… first give 18 minutes, check if its browned and then increment 2 minutes until golden. It has the tendency to brown quickly.. so keep a watch.
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