Goan Christmas Sweet : Neureos

·         ½ kg flour

·         2 tbspn ghee

·         A pinch of salt

For the fillings:

·         1 coconut (grated fine)

·         ½ kg sugar (powdered)

·         ½ cup water

·         100 gms cashew nuts finely chopped

·         6 cardamom (powdered)

·         100 gms raisins

·         2 tbspn ghee

·         & oil for fry

Knead the flour along with salt and ghee and form into a ball of dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave for some time.

Mix coconut, powdered sugar, ghee, cashew nuts, raisins, cardamom over slow fire for sometime, then remove from fire and allow it to cool. divide the dough into small balls, roll out into thin rounds, put a spoonful of the filling on each round, wet the edges, press down to form half moon shapes. Trim the edges with the cutter and deep fry till it becomes brown. Store them in a dry container.

Goan Christmas Sweet : Kulkuls

• 500 gms maida flour
• 10 eggs yolk
• 500 gms sugar
• 1 cup coconut milk (thick)
• ¼ nutmeg (powdered)
• 200 gms ghee

Mix all the above ingredients and cook over a slow fire till soft dough has formed. Cool, Knead and take small marble-like portion, roll over the back of the fork (or any other shape) and deep fry till golden brown.

Goan Christmas Sweet : Coconut Cookies (Bolinhas)

·         1 kg semolina

·         1 kg sugar

·         5 coconuts (grated)

·         14 egg yolk

·         2 tbsp butter or ghee

·         1 tea spoon powdered cardamom

Stir semolina and ghee on the fire for few minutes. In another container whip eggs yolk and sugar till it dissolve. Add Semolina, grated coconut, powdered cardamom and mix well. Prepare small round ball of the batter and shape them accordingly.  Grease the tray and place the cookies and bake them.

Goan Christmas Sweet : Bebinca (Bibink)

• 1 kg sugar
• 2 coconuts (extract 4 cups milk)
• 20 eggs yolk (whisk)
• 100 gms plain flour (maida)
• ½ spoon nutmeg powder (essence)
• 2 spoon cardamom powder (essence)
• 1 cup ghee

Mix coconut milk and sugar and stir till the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the whisked egg yolk, nutmeg and cardamom powder, 1 spoon ghee, flour and stir well to avoid lumps. Preheat the oven for 5 min for better result. Grease 1 teaspoon of ghee to a deep pan, pour some prepared batter to form ¼" thick layer. Oven this till the top is golden. Then remove it from the oven, add 1 spoon of ghee and pour another same quantity of the batter over the previous layer and bake. Monitor frequently. Keep on repeating the process till the batter is used up. When it is done, allow it to cool and then turn the Bebinca over a flat dish. Cut into slices and serve. (Baking is done on a slow flame)

Goan Christmas Sweet : Dodol

·         3 coconut

·         ½ cup Goan rice flour (sieve)

·         750 gms coconut jaggery

·         1 spoon sugar

·         50 gms cashew nuts

Grate coconut and extract coconut milk by grinding the coconut with warm water. Strain and squeeze the coconut so as to get 1 liter thick milk (for the first time) and 1 liter coconut milk (for the second time).

In a pan (copper vessel), add coconut milk which was extracted for the second time, sugar, jaggery, rice flour and stir well to avoid lumps. Keep it on slow fire and stir continuously till it become little thick. Now add the remaining thick coconut milk and cashew nuts slowly and continue to stir till the whole mixture is well thickened and begins to leave the sides of the pan. once it starts giving out oil, pour it in a dish and leave it to cool. Cut and serve.

Goan Coconut Cake – Baath (Bat’k)

·         3 fresh grated coconuts

·         ½ kg semolina

·         1kg sugar

·         8 eggs (beaten)

·         250 grams ghee or butter (room temperature)

·         1 tsp baking powder

·         1tsp vanilla essence or nutmeg (powdered)

·         8 cardamoms (powdered)

Grind the coconut along with the beaten eggs, sugar, cardamoms and the nutmeg (powdered). In another blow, mix semolina and baking powder. Now mix both the grinded coconut and the semolina along with the ghee well and let it sit for at least 4-5 hours.

Grease the baking tray with butter or ghee and pour the mixture on the baking tray. Preheat the oven for 5 min for better result, set the oven on 180 degree centigrade and let the cake to bake for 40 min. To test if the cake is baked, Peirce knife until deep, if the knife comes out clean then the cake is done. Remove and cool it.