Christmas Cake Truffles

The splash of rum combined with the cocoa and chocolate makes these Christmas Cake Truffles a treat that you just want to keep popping in your mouth. These truffles are inspired by rum balls and are as simple to make, and require no baking. There are many ways to coat these little confections. You can roll them in nuts, sprinkles,dessecated coconut or enrobe them in chocolate.If you have never made rum balls, try my festive version, they will surely be a hit with friends and family!

Ingredients

2 1⁄2 cups crushed Marie biscuits

6 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup icing sugar

4 tblsp melted butter

1⁄2 cup spiced rum

2 tablespoons liquid glucose

1/2 cup melted dark chocolate

1 cup mixed dry fruit and nuts, finely chopped

Zest of one orange

Crushed nuts/ dessicated coconut/ cocoa for coating the balls.

Method

Soak the mixed fruit and nut mixture and zest in the spiced rum mixed with the liquid glucose syrup overnight . Sift the cocoa with the sugar. Add the melted chocolate,soaked fruit and crushed biscuits. Mix thoroughly. Chill until firm enough to shape(about 15 minutes). Shape the mixture into walnut sized balls. You may roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, moistening and wiping your hands with damp cloth as needed. Then dredge the rum balls in crushed nuts/ dessicated coconut/ cocoa/ icing sugar/ sprinkles etc and serve. Store in an airtight tin.

Potato Chops

Ingredients :
500 g minced meat
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp green masala
1 tsp turmeric powder
1  medium onion , peeled and finely chopped
1 small bunch fresh coriander leaves , chopped
2 tomatoes , chopped

1 kg potatoes
1/2 teaspoon pepper
salt to taste

1 egg slightly beaten
breadcrumbs
Oil , for frying

Preparation :
Heat the 4 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan. Put the onion in and stir fry gently for 1 minute over a medium heat. Add the spices, masala, coriander, tomatoes and salt and fry for a minute, then add the meat. Cover and cook on a low heat for 20 minutes until the meat is cooked. Stir occasionally and add a little more oil if the pan seems to be too dry.

Boil the potatoes in their skins until soft. Peel and mash the potatoes.season with salt and pepper.
Take a handful of potato mash and place it in the palm of your hand and flatten it, then put in some mince. Cover it with the mash to form a round  cutlet shape or rectangle. Coat in beaten egg and bread crumbs and deep/ shallow fry till golden.

Portuguese Tuna à la Brás (Tuna & Eggs Stir Fry)

Here is my version of the famous Tuna à la Brás, a delicious creamy tuna and egg dish that uses canned tuna, eggs, olives and fried potatoes to make a savoury pescatarian protein packed meal.  Bacalhau à Brás is very similar, and uses salted cod instead, however with salted cod being rare to come by in Goa, I generally make this canned tuna version more often.

Ingredients

3 eggs

1/4 cup cream

125 grams canned tuna

2 tbsps olive oil

4 Cloves Garlic, minced

Coriander leaves/ Oregano (to taste)

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 medium tomato, finely diced

1/2 red pepper, finely diced

Salt  & Pepper to season

1 large Potato, diced 

10 Olives in brine, drained 

Method

Drain the tuna and shred it with a fork. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and cream with a fork.  Fry the diced potatoes (if using) in some oil till light golden and keep aside. Put the olive oil, chopped onion and bell peppers in a frying pan and sauté until the onion starts to turn slightly golden. Add the minced garlic & tomato and continue to sauté. Mix in  the tuna, stir, add the eggs and stir with a spatula about 2 to 3 minutes until the eggs are cooked but still creamy. Add olives and season with pepper and a little salt if necessary. Turn off the heat, add the fried potato, sprinkle with oregano or chopped fresh coriander and serve immediately.

Fruit Salad Custard

Ingredients

500 ml Milk

3 tbsp Vanilla custard powder

4-5 tbsp Sugar as per taste

2 1/2 cups Mixed fruits of your Choice, Chopped

1/4 Cup cashew nuts/almonds, chopped

Handful Raisins (optional)

Method

Boil the milk along with the sugar, the add the custard powder slurry ( dissolve powder in 2 tblsp water), stirring continuously till it thickens. Cool and then Refrigerate till cold. When Serving mix in the chopped fruit and nuts. Use any seasonal fruits of your choice apples,grapes,bananas,mango, pomegranate etc taste and look good in a fruit custard. Its the jeweled hue of the fruit in the creamy custard that makes this fruit salad so attractive.

Dose Bhaji (Broken wheat pudding)

The name 'doce bhaji' literally means a combination of something sweet and something savoury. Put simply, it is a broken wheat pudding made using ingredients readily available in almost any Goan kitchen - wheat, coconut milk, sugar, clarified butter (ghee) and flavourings. This traditional tea time sweet dish is excellent for lactating mothers and children because of its strengthening properties. The uninitiated could easily mistake a plate of doce bhaji for a halwa or a sheera, but take a bite of it and the play of textures on your palette will definitely make you want to reach out for one more piece.

Ingredients

1 cup Broken Wheat

2 cups thick Coconut milk

1-1 1/2 cups thin coconut milk

2-3 tbsps Ghee

3/4 dark coconut jaggery

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp Cardamom powder

¼ cup chopped Cashewnuts/Almonds

¼ cup Raisins

Salt to taste

Method

Wash and soak the broken wheat in in water for 3-4 hours to reduce cooking time.Drain the broken wheat and add it to a heavy bottom utensil along with the thin coconut milk and salt cook on a medium flame, stirring constantly. Once the wheat is almost cooked, add the thick coconut milk,jaggery, sugar and continue cooking. Finally add the cardamom powder, nuts, raisins and ghee. Keep stirring till it absorbs all the moisture. Remove it from the flame and transfer it to individual serving dishes or a greased platter of your choice. When cooled and set you can cut it into squares to serve if you prefer. Make sure you refrigerate leftovers (if you have any, I didnt) as docebhaji spoils easily because of the coconut in the recipe.

 

Photo Credit: Lloyd Vas

Pineapple Sheera

Ingredients

1 cup semolina(rava)
2 cups milk

1/2-1 cup water (vary the amount based on how firm or soft you want the sheera to be)
1/4 cup pure ghee
1/3 -1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chopped pineapple (can be substituted with mango, or skipped altogether)
8-10 chopped cashews

20 raisins
1/2 tsp clove powder/ elaichi powder

1 pinch kesar

Salt to taste

Method

Heat a heavy bottomed pan and roast the rava for about 5 minutes on low heat Add the ghee and fry some more. When rava turns to golden brown remove from pan and keep aside. Heat the milk,water,kesar,salt and add the roasted rava in a thin stream,stirring continuosly and then cover and cook on low flame , till milk is absorbed. Now add the sugar and pineapple and finally the nuts,raisins and clove/elaichi powder. Cook for another 3-4 minutes till done and and turn off the heat. This Goan sweet is delicious had with a steaming cup of tea.

Goan Beef Cutlet

It’s a snack. But it could also be a whole meal on its own. The Goan cutlet is essentially a generous slice of beef, well marinated vinegar and goan marinade and crumb fried . The ingredients for the marinade are a matter of choice and taste. But they can make all the difference between a passable cutlet and a great cutlet (costeleta in Portuguese), as does the quality of the beef. The slice of meat then gets an egg wash before it is dusted in bread crumbs (or semolina) and fried. Served with Goan bread poie/ pao, a little gravy or ketchup and some salad, the cutlet-pao (also available in a chicken variant) is currently Goa’s most popular street food.

The costeleta is definitely of Portuguese origin. But the cutlet-pao, its local adaption, is as Goan as the chourice pao or the ross omelette.  They are dished out by the dozens from street carts that sell cutlet-pao, sausage-bread, pork chops and beef chilly fry among other takeaways, and have created a street food culture here that would be hard to beat in quality and price

Ingredients

1 kg thinly sliced Beef 

 Marinade:

1 small bunch Coriander

6-8 Green Chillies

12 to 14 cloves Garlic

½ inch Ginger

1 ball Tamarind

2 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

2 tsp Pepper Corns

2 inch Cinnamon

8-10 Cloves

3 to 4 tbsp Vinegar

½ tsp Sugar

Salt to taste

2 Eggs

Semolina to coat cutlets

Oil for frying

Wash the meat and tenderize it using a meat mallet. Place a piece of steak between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and use a meat mallet to pound it out to about 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with the rest of the steaks. Apply salt and vinegar and mix well. Grind all the other ingredients listed under marinade to a fine paste and apply the paste to the meat and marinate for 5 to 6 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

After the meat is marinated add 2 whipped eggs and mix well. Coat each meat slice with the semolina and keep aside. Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a large cast-iron skillet until hot  and fry the cutlets in batches for about 3 or 4 minutes on each side, or until well browned. Remove and drain any excess oil with a paper towel-lined plate. Serve hot in a poie/pav with a salad.

Photo Credit: Lloyd Vas

Patholi and Hole'

This aromatic goan sweet dish is traditionally made by catholics on the feast St. John the baptist celebrated on 24^th June and on the feast of Assumption on 15^th August ( also India's Independance day). The turmeric leaves impart a unique aroma and flavour to patholi. A variation of patholi is made with jackfruit leaves and shaped like cones. Making this dish always brings back childhood memories of simpler times and healthier foods.

Ingredients

2 cup Rice, Soaked

Salt, to taste

2 cups fresh grated Coconut
3/4 cup coconut jaggery
20 Turmeric leaves for patholi or jackfruit leaves for Hole'

Soak the rice in water for 3 hours. Grind it to a thick paste along with the salt. Add very little water while doing this, the paste should be the cosistency of a wet dough. Keep aside Mix the fresh grated coconut and jaggery till the jaggery melts and forms a uniform mixture.

To assemble Patholis: Spread a thin layer of the rice paste on a tumeric leaf that has been washed and wiped. Spread two tea spoons of filling and fold the leaf lenghtwise. 

To Assemble Hole': Make a cone with the jackfruit leaves and secure it with a toothpick. Spread a thin layer of the rice paste inside the cone, add about two tea spoons of filling and close the cone with another thin layer of rice paste.

Steam patholis or Hole' in a steamer for around 20-30 mins till the white rice pastry is translucent.

                                                     Assembled Hole' ready for steaming

                                                 Fresh steamed  Hole' ready to be devoured

Most Goan families make the hole' from separate jack fruit leaves, my mother in law however, adds some extra flair to this sweet, that she learned from her mother. She  makes the hole' with the leaves attached to the branch as seen above, which makes for very beautiful presentation as well as gave them as kids added excitement of who would get the biggest bunch. Enjoy these traditional Goan sweet dishes, and don't forget to have fun making them like I did.


                                                              Steamed Patoleo

 Photo Credit: Lloyd Vas

Teias de Aranhas/Gons (Goan tender coconut candy shaped like Cobwebs/Spiderwebs)

Ingredients
1 tender coconut*
200 gms Sugar
1/4 cup water
1 Sheet of white butter paper

Method

Cut the sheet of white butter paper into 4" squares. Traditionally the paper is cut with pretty snowflake designs very similar to paper doilies. Lay out on the squares a flat surface, ideally not far from the cooking area.

Remove the kernel from the coconut neatly, avoiding the thin brown skin. Cut into thin, long strips. Keep a pan on the fire with the sugar and water, when the sugar is melted add the coconut strips. Cook on a slow fire, stirring with a wooden spoon all the time till it thickens and leaves the sides of the vessels.

Working quickly, spread a spoonful of the sweet onto the small sheets of paper with a fork. Leave till it hardens. Store in an airtight container. 

 *tender coconut should be a little firm and not at the 'malai' coconut stage

Alle Belle (Goan crepes with coconut and jaggery filling)

Ingredients

1 cup refined wheat flour(Maida)

2 eggs

     1 teaspoon castor sugar

20 gms ghee

½ to ¾ cup milk(as required)

Salt to taste

1 cup fresh coconut(grated)

1/2 cup black coconut jaggery(grated)

25 gm cashew nuts (broken)

Dash of Nutmeg powder

Oil for frying crepes

Method

For the filling heat the jaggery, fresh grated coconut, nutmeg powder and cashew nuts for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow to cool. To make the batter for the crepes, mix flour, salt, eggs, castor sugar, milk and melted ghee together to form a smooth pancake batter. Keep this batter aside. Brush a flat non-stick pan with oil and heat over moderate heat. Pour a small ladle of the batter into the pan and move the pan so that the batter spreads over the whole surface as thinly as possible to form a thin crepe. Cook until firm and remove from the pan.To assemble each alle belle place a spoonful of filling on one edge of the crepe and roll it tight. Serve warm with a hot cup of tea.

Khatkhatem (Mixed Vegetable Stew)

Khatkhatem is a delectable, traditional recipe made with at least five seasonal vegetables of Goa. The seasonal vegetables may include pumpkin, green plantain, raw papaya, drumsticks, raw jackfruit, yam, radish etc. Khatkhatem is specially prepared by Hindu Goans during Ganesh Chaturthi festival when they abstain from non vegetarian food. This tasty stew is both nutritious and colourful.

Ingredients

1/4 cup peeled, chopped sweet potatoes

1/4 cup peeled, chopped yellow pumpkin

1/4 cup peeled, chopped green plantain

1/4 cup peeled, chopped white radish

1/4 cup peeled, chopped unripe green papaya

1/4 cup peeled, chopped carrot

1 cob maize sliced thickly

1 drumstick, chopped

1/4 cup dry peas, soaked

10 dried teflam berries (optional)

1 cup grated coconut

12 black peppercorns

4 green chillies

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp chilli powder

2 tbsp grated jaggery

3 tbsp tamarind pulp

Salt to taste

Method

Lightly crush the tefflam and set aside. Grind together the grated coconut, peppercorns and green chillies with half a cup of water to a smooth paste. Boil the vegetables and dried peas in a deep pan. Add turmeric and chilli powder, jaggery, tamarind pulp and salt and mix well. Add coconut paste, teflam and one cup of water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat immediately and serve hot with pav.

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." -- J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Ambot Tik (Sour and Hot Red Curry)

Ingredients

1/2 Kg fish – shark, sardines, prawns or any other 'fleshy' fish
10 dried red Kashmiri chillies
1/4 tsp cummin seeds
4 peppercorns
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4 garlic cloves
1/2 inch piece of ginger
a marble sized ball of tamarind mixed in some hot water
1 onion, finely sliced

2 tblsp oil
Salt to taste

Vinegar to taste (optional)

Method

Clean and wash the fish. Cut into small steaks, rub in some salt and set aside. Grind all the other ingredients except onion into a paste with a little water. Keep aside. Sauté the onion until soft and light brown. Add the reserved paste and fry for a minute. Add about 1 cup of water. Bring to boil then add the fish. Cook on low till fish is tender. Do not stir so as to avoid breaking up the fish. Just shake the pan a little to let the gravy move around in the pan. Season with salt and a little vinegar if you like some extra tang . Serve with some steamed rice or sannas.

Ambot tik tastes even better when served the next day as the flavours have time to meld together into a glorious sour and fiery red gravy and is guaranteed to tickle your taste buds, have you licking your lips and wanting some more.