GOAN

SWEETS

BY

ROMMEL FERNANDES

It takes a lot of effort to create Goan sweet dishes. These sweets usually have the same core ingredients of rice flour, coconut milk, palm jaggery, semolina (called "rawa" in Hindi) and eggs.

Some of the sweets made in Goa which you can buy for your folks while returning back home are:

Bebinca

Also known as bebik or bebinka, it can be described as layer upon layer of coconut egg custard flavored with nutmeg. It takes skill and patience to cook each layer separately before adding the next. It is made with fresh coconut milk, egg yolks, sugar and flour.

Dosh

This is a diamond shaped sweet made by stirring grated coconut, boiled channa dal and sugar over gentle heat until the right texture is obtained. It takes skill, strong arms for stirring and experience to remove the dosh at the right moment on to a hard surface to cool ready for cutting into diamond shapes.

Neureos

These are half moon shaped deep fried mini pastries filled with coconut, cardamom, semolina and sesame seeds. They are prepared only during Christmas.

Dodol

This is a sweet made with rice flour, coconut milk, jaggery and cashew nuts.

Bathk

This is a moist rich coconut tart baked in a large round shape and flavoured with cardamom.

Bolinhas

Bolinhas are round in shape. Made with grated coconut, sugar, semolina, egg yolks and butter, they are flavoured with cardamom and baked gently.

Pinagr

This dark brown colored sweet shaped like thick fingers is packed with ingredients like coconut jaggery, Goa rice and coconut.

Patolleo

This is a sweet made with grated coconut, rice and jaggery by wrapping and steaming the stuff in turmeric or banana leaves. It is served mostly on 15th August.

Dodol

Dodol is another famous Goan sweet, made with rice flour, coconut milk, jaggery and cashew nuts. It is usually cooled in a flat pan and served in slices, and is very sweet.

If you live in the UK, here's a place you can order most of these delicacies from:

http://goanfood.co.uk/

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author referred to various sources while compiling this piece and wants to thank the people who wrote the original stuff.

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