We are in the Christmas season, preparing cooking and baking for a merry Christmas at home to enjoy with our loved ones and the ones we care for. Advent is the time of the year when we realize too an other year is over and that time seems to be passing away, remembering the good and bad times.
Goa celebrates Christmas with their own traditions, their own way. That’s the high season of the year, when domestic and international Tourists come to discover pretty beaches and a peaceful vacation in the sun. It means too that we are all here tide up to work and organization, since locals live of some few months of Tourists income.
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Everybody gives their best to make a max amount of money in those weeks, leaving celebrations nowadays a bit short, especially on the coastal belt. But we celebrate here in Goa with the Visitors, we celebrate together. These is unique and it was different to my traditional Austrian Christmas experiences. Christmas in Goa has its own charm!
I am a bit lost the last few days. My dear jerry died, she was an albino rat. It all happened so fast and I am a bit confused… I miss her a lots. She was my cooking buddy, she would taste my meals and she was very picky, she knew what was making sense and what not. I am still in shock and sad… =( … and I miss her.
But all this reminded me too that nothing lasts forever, that you should live in the now, acknowledging and being here for your loved ones. That’s exactly what Christmas teaches us. This is the feast of love, the time of the year when we dedicate to our families and friends. Because we are not meant to live forever. Show your dear how much you care for them without expecting anything back. It is the time when unresolved conflicts and wars should be left in the past, the time to reconcile. We all agree to that, but pride and resentments and personal ego tent to spoil our lives. Why are we not growing up and start to realize that live is so short?
My husbands family had started the annual Christmas cookie/sweets preparation in the past few days and I had a chance to participate and shoot some photos. Usually every Christian house will deep fry and bake a few types of traditional Goan cookies such as Kulkule and Nankatai and prepare a plate for each family house and neighbors and friends with all mixed cookies.
Kulkule and Nankatai cookies are easy to prepare and quick to cook. Many people used to live on less money and had to adjust to their budget and so these different cookies were born. They are absolutely delicious, some are with spices some are not. I am going to share 2 types today with you all, for you to try out.
Nankatai Goan Christmas cookies
Author:
Helene D'Souza
Recipe type: Cookies sweets
Cuisine: Goan
Serves: 36
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- 1 kilogram Flour
- pinch of salt
- 250 grams Castor Sugar
- 500 grams Clarified butter (Ghee)
- Vanilla essence
Instructions
- Start by sieving the salt and flour together and add the sugar. With your hands rub in the vanilla essence with the clarified butter, mix all the ingredients well and create a smooth dough
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Form the dough into small balls, and keep on a baking tray. You can decorate the nankatais with a crystallized cherry or any other sweets by pressing it into the center of each ball.
- Bake them, keeping the heat to 375 F, on a baking tray with paper, for 25 minutes till they get a bit of a light brown color. Cool and keep in an air tight Jar.
Kulkule Goan Christmas cookies
Ingredients
- ½ kilogram All purpose flour - sieved
- 3 Tablespoon powdered sugar
- pinch salt
- 2 egg yolks - beaten
- 1 Tablespoon Butter - cold
- 1 Cup thick Coconut milk
- 3 cups oil - for frying
Instructions
- Mix flour,salt and the butter together. Continue to add the yolks, sugar and coconut milk and work out the mixture until you have a smooth dough.
- Roll the dough 2 mm thick out and cut into 2 cm thick stripes. Those stripes need to be cut into Diamond shape as seen.
- Directly deep fry them on a medium flame until golden brown. Store in a Airtight container.
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I am Helene, and created Masala Herb to share my food and travel journey with the whole world. You will find Asian and Western dishes here, as well as unique travel guides to inspire your day.
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Great to learn about different Christmas treats from different cultures, thanks for sharing. So sad to hear about Jerry…
Both of them are my most favourite snacks:) Wish you a merry Christmas Helene!
Sorry to hear about Jerry.
Oh dear 🙁 I'm so sorry to hear about Jerry. I send you a virtual hug. *HUG*
Hi Helene, your snack looks delicious and tempting.
Oh.. dear, so sorry to hear about Jerry. A warm hugs from me and warmest regards to you.
Merry Christmas to you and family. Have a nice day.
What a heartfelt post Helene, well said:) It is nice to be reminded of the Christmas spirit and by sharing your cherished recipes you have shared another bit of yourself. Thank you:) So sorry to hear about your Jerry. He is now a kitchen angel by your side:)
I am totally mesmerized by the second cookie you show here. They must be simply delicious. I wish to prepare them one day. Thank you again for sharing. I'm sorry to say my eye is still not better and I am not "allowed" to be on the computer at all. I took my patch off just for today so I could say hi to everyone. I also wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas. I hope you and your family have a wonderful and tasty holiday:) It has been a delight getting to know you and your delectable blog and I look forward to being able to visit more often next year. Hugs to you, Helene:)
Both recipes looks absolutely delicious, especially the nankhattai, hmm yumm! I'm dreaming about these melt in the mouth nankhattai. Glad to follow your lovely blog 🙂
@Gerry thank u,…
I wish u could try them out they taste great.
@Keerthana wish u a merry christmas too and thank u!
@Parsley thank you your hug reached.
@Amelia thank u for the compliment and concern.merry christmas to u too and your family!
@louise thank u dear. I d like to see jerry as my kitchen angel.
I sorry to hear that your eye is not much better. what is the doc saying otherwise? I hope u ll get better soon. missing u around in the web and your lovely posts. thanks again for everything louise and a merry christmas to u and your family.
@ayeesha thanks u =) I am glad to have u as reader of my blog.
I've never heard of these types of cookies before but they sound delicious and like something I definitely need to try!
I am so sorry to hear about Jerry 🙁 I have a 14-year old cat, and can imagine how you feel, because I know how much little animal friends mean… Sending you a big, warm virtual hug!!!
Thank you so much for sharing these exotic Christmas cookies with us and for reminding us what the real spirit of Christmas should be, ie. is… Both cookies look mouthwatering! This definitely lands on my Must-Bake List 🙂
Merry Christmas to you and your dear ones! *HUG*
@Joanne oh thats great, loved to introduce u a new delight. =)
@tanja danke es muntert mich ein wenig auf.
Maybe I ll be able to make u some if we ever get to meet up, one day. 😉
Schöne Wheinachten Tanja dir und deiner Familie!
xo
All of my favorite goodies — especially that mouthwatering nankatai's 😀
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com
Sorry to hear about Jerry. We lost one of our dogs earlier this year, which was really hard. You cookies look delicious! Merry Christmas!
I'm sorry to hear about Jerry. Hugs!
@Kiran thanks for passing by! =) ah yeah nankatai is one of my favs too.
@Frugal I think so u had mentioned it on your blog much earlier. it sucks when our best friends die…
@Christine thanks for your nice words.
Oh Helene… I'm so sorry to hear about Jerry, especially this holiday time. 🙁
These are very unique cookies. I enjoyed reading your unique cookie recipes, Helene.
Hope you feel better soon. Sending you big hugs!
@nami thank u a lots for everything. glad to have u as friend.