HOME        |        ABOUT        |        COPYRIGHT        |        CONTACT        |         RECIPE INDEX        |         INDIAN THAALIS        |         MILLET RECIPES        |        EVENTS' ROUNDUP        

Monday, April 7, 2014

Doce De Grao / Goan Chonya Doce


I am a sucker for traditional Indian sweet dishes and don't mind even if they involve tedious / laborious work. And so my initial plan for the marathon was trying the regional sweet dishes. For the Goan post, I was looking for a dodol recipe but instead landed at this recipe which captivated my attention instantly. Chonya doce is a part of Goan Christmas platter and very addictive as the original recipe mentions. This recipe gives a slightly firm but melt in mouth kind texture. It is firm enough to hold the shape but not firm as a Mysore pak. I loved it but my kids said they prefer a Mysore pak over it. It is maybe because of the soft texture, I guess. Also it cannot be left at room temperature if you are planning to store it longer. Refrigerate it once chonya doce comes to room temperature. 
It is better to use a deep nonstick pan and a ladle / spatula with a long handle to avoid the time and strain of stirring continuously and also to avoid the mixture spluttering onto your hands. Besides choose a time when you are cooking something else in the kitchen and this way, you don't feel that you got stuck cooking this dish. I went with a non stick pan and chose to cook at low flame. In this way, I just had to stir once in a while. It took an hour but I hardly noticed it since I was preparing lunch and wasn't repeatedly stirring this. If you cook on medium flame, the mixture splutters a lot and besides, if you are not using a nonstick pan, there is the scare of getting the mixture burnt.

Ingredients:
1 cup chana dal
1.5 cup sugar
1.5 cup shredded fresh coconut
A pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1 tbsp ghee (I didn't use any.)

Method:
* Wash and soak chana dal in enough water for about 3 hours. Pressure cook adding just enough water until soft. Let it cook slightly.
* Grind chana dal and coconut together to a fine paste adding a little water if needed.
* Add the ground paste, sugar and salt to the nonstick pan or a thick bottomed pan.

* Cook on medium heat. The sugar melts and the mixture becomes loose at this point.

* If you are using a nonstick pan, you can just check once in a while to give the mixture a stir. Otherwise you have to keep on stirring so the mixture doesn't get burnt.


* Keep on cooking until the mixture comes together and starts to leave the sides of the pan.



* Add the cardamom powder and mix well. Transfer the mixture to a greased kitchen counter top or a wooden board. Using a rolling pin, smoothen and shape the mixture into a slab of about 1 cm thickness. I think I didn't smooth the mixture as I need to since some of the pieces showed some cracks though they were not crumbly.


* When warm enough to handle, cut the slab into desired shape. Arrange them on a tray with enough space in them. 


* Cool them completely before serving. Refrigerate or freeze the left overs.



22 comments:

Varada's Kitchen said...

Turned out great. I love the color and how it is highlighted in the pictures.

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Garo looks so amazingly delicious and mouthwatering. Excellent preparation.
Deepa

Unknown said...

omg fantastic garo dear :) wud love to grab some right away :)

Unknown said...

Looks so much like our mysorepak!! super delicious!!

Unknown said...

simple and elegant!!! well done

jayanthi said...

looks yummy and really interesting. I am going to try this soon.

Priya Suresh said...

You got them prefectly, pass me some..i can have them happily rite now.

Nalini's Kitchen said...

Sounds interesting,perfectly made..

Kalyani said...

So much like mysorepak, but without the ghee ;-)) bookmarking this ... U r indeed showing us very rare recipes ! Thanks 😊

Gayathri Kumar said...

Delicious looking barfi. Love your stepwise photos...

Harini R said...

A cross between poornam and besan chakki. But the fact that it can be made without ghee wins hands down!

vaishali sabnani said...

I love these In dian sweets but very bad at cooking them. Get jitters while worki g on mithais.you are awesome dear.

Usha said...

Sounds like a low calorie version of mysorepak. Nice recipe.

Chef Mireille said...

This is a sweet I can definitely go for

Srivalli said...

Suma, I wish you had taken up that challenge to do sweets, would have loved that as well!..this looks so nice and so much like mysore pak right..and that's a nice way of making slices..

Archana said...

Wow this is a labour intensive sweet.its supposed to be firm outside but soft inside. Yours have turned out great.

Saraswathi Ganeshan said...

Perfect sweets..hope this has both mysore pak and coconut burfi taste..

Pavani said...

That is a very interesting burfi with chana dal.. Looks perfectly made Suma.

Sandhya Ramakrishnan said...

This is a very lovely sweet using channa dal. i also love the Indian burfis and i can eat them anytime :)

Unknown said...

Deliciously made sweet. Would love to have a bite it..

cookingwithsapana said...

Such a levy sweet recipe , bookmarked....

Padmajha said...

It does look like mysore pak! Well, you have made it perfectly! Really want to taste them right now...