Kulkul - Goan Christmas Sweet

Kulkul- Goan Christmas Sweet

Today's recipe is Kulkul/ Kalkal- a traditional Goan Christmas sweet. This sweet snack is undeniably good with the right amount of sweetness and a crispy bite. You want it sweeter and more festive? Then dip it in sugar syrup or dust them with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. Different colored kulkuls are available in bakeries during Christmas. Well, it is Christmas and goodies made for holidays need to be extra fancy!

This is the third recipe I am sharing with all of you for Christmas. This snack is perfect for the holidays. Holiday cooking need not be stressful. Holiday gift-giving and a party can be fun for kids too. If you are a parent like me, you know how important it is to have fun family cooking involving our little helpers? Well here is one recipe for you. All they need is a fork and they will enjoy rolling and shaping the dough. You can make Kulkuls in large batches well in advance. But these are quite addictive and they will be gone before you realize. It is simple and fun to make.

Kulkuls is an old fashioned snack- it is buttery, flaky pastry style dough deep-fried to crispy golden. The pastry dough is shaped like shell curls using paddles or with the back of a fork. It is a very traditional recipe for Christmas in Goa and Mangalore. Kuswar is a term used to refer to Christmas goodies of the Goan Catholic community. Traditionally twenty-two items are made during Christmas and Kulkul is one among them. Kulkul can trace its origin to the European fried pastry dough. It is not surprising as the cultural and culinary traditions of Goa has strong Portuguese influence.

Kulkul brings back memories of childhood and I have a vague memory of this sweet snack. I tried to recreate that taste and flavor in my kitchen. Kulkul has the intense flavor of coconut and ghee. The dough is made with all-purpose flour, powdered sugar, semolina, ghee, and coconut milk. Semolina adds crispness and ghee adds depth of flavor. Ghee is clarified butter which is melted and cooked till it reaches a light amber color, but you don't need to cook it as much as brown butter. You can also add butter, but it is ghee that does all the magic! It is gently laced with the flavor of cardamon. You can also add spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Kulkul can be made with or without eggs, but there will be a difference in texture. It is very similar to gavvalu and seepu appam. But kulkuls have a taste of its own, mildly sweet, crispy and with the intense flavor of ghee and coconut.

How to make Goan Kulkul

Cooking time-25 minutes
Recipe type- Snack
Cuisine- Goan /Indian

Ingredients
All purpose flour- 2 cups
Semolina- 1/2 cup
Egg- 1
Coconut milk- 1/2 cup
Powdered Sugar- 3/4 cup
salt - a pinch
Ghee- 3 tsp
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Oil for frying- 3 cup

In a bowl add flour, semolina, powdered sugar, salt, and cardamom powder. Whisk it together till well combined. Add room temperature ghee into the flour. With a pastry blender or with your fingers rub ghee into the flour until the flour resembles a coarse sand-like mixture.

Whisk together egg and coconut milk. Add this little by little into the flour. Continue mixing until all the dough comes together. Press it into a ball, and knead it a few times to be sure all of the dry ingredients are blended into the dough. Cover and let it rest for half an hour.

Make small tiny marble sized balls out of the dough. Press and flatten one ball to the back of a spoon. Gently lift one side of the dough and start rolling into a curl from one edge to the other and seal the end. Continue making the rest of the balls into small shell-shaped curls. Cover it with a damp cloth so that it does get dry.

Heat oil in a pan in medium flame. When the oil is hot gently slide in a few shaped doughs into the oil. Fry till golden brown on both sides. Drain into paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar. Allow it to cool down completely before transferring into airtight containers.

If you want to dip in sugar syrup, reduce the amount of sugar in the dough. Add a cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water and bring it to a boil. Allow the sugar syrup to thicken to one thread consistency. Add 1 tsp of lemon juice into the syrup. Add the fried kulkuls into warm syrup mix and after 30 seconds, drain with a slotted spoon and let it rest for 30 -40 minutes before serving. When it cools down completely store in airtight containers