Traditional Goan Batk or Semolina Cake

Goan Batk or Semolina Cake

(A Goan rich semolina cake in my mom's version with easy-to-rem ingredient quantities )
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PrepTime : Serves : Cook Time
15Min 6 60Min

Ingredients :

1 cup sugar
1 cup suji/ rawa
1 cup butter
1 cup maida
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup eggs (abt 4-5)
(SEE HOW EASY IT IS SO FAR!! - 1 CUP EACH)

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking pwd
1/2 tsp almond/vanilla essence
1/2 tsp cardamom pwd
1/2 tsp cinnamon pwd
(AGAIN, SO EASY - ALL 1/2 tsp!!)

Cooking Instructions :

Grind all the ingredients to a smooth cake batter - add a little milk if required but the batter should be thick - not too liquid n flowy or creamy. Let it stand for 15mins. Pour the batter into an 9" X 9" X 3" greased and floured cake tin - Tap the tin gently few times on a flat surface to remove air bubbles. Bake in a moderate oven, (350 F) for about 1 hour, or till done. Cool & cut into diamond shape pieces.

Parsi Dhansak (Daal Ghosh)

Parsi Dhansak (Daal Ghosh)

(A traditional Parsi dish with Persian & Gujarati influences; A time-consuming preparation of meat cooked with spices, lentils & vegetables)
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PrepTime : Serves : Cook Time
10Min 5 45 Min

Ingredients :
500 gm chicken skinned and washed and chopped or 500 gms mutton pieces.
2 large onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 Bay leaves
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves chopped (optional)

Daals soaked for 1 hour:
1/4 cup.val dal
1/4 cup masoor dal
1/4 cup moong dal
1 cups tuvar dal

Vegetables (as available):
50 gm orange pumpkin
1 brinjal
1 carrot
1 potato peeled
Methi 1/4 bunch or 6 small bunch of dhansaak methi (if available)

For the Masala:
4 cloves
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 tsp oil
1 inch cinnamon
2 inch piece ginger
3 tbsp tamarind water
6 cloves garlic
3 green chillies
2 tsp dhansaak masala or sambhaar masala
2 tsp dhania-jeera masala
salt and black pepper powder to taste


Cooking Instructions:

Ensure daals have been soaked for 1 hour. Grind the masala items to a fine paste with little water. Chop the vegetables and methi leaves and quartered the potatoes. Pressure cook the dals, vegetables and meat pieces for 15 minutes (put enough water and little to more so that all the ingredients in the cooker are covered). When cooled open the cooker and remove the meat pieces and potatoes pieces from the dals and vegetables. Blend the dals and vegetables.

Heat oil and fry the chopped onions till brown. Add the ground masala and bay leaves fry well. Add chopped tomatoes and coriander leaves. Add salt and turmeric powder and fry for 2 minutes. Add the blended dal to the masalas and allow it to boil. Then add meat and potatoes pieces. Allow it to cook (add more water if necessary). Finally the dal should be little thick. Serve hot with rice or naan.

Peanut-chutney stuffed Baby Brinjals

Peanut-chutney stuffed Baby brinjals

(An Indian dish from the state of Maharashtra featuring baby brinjals/ eggplant stuffed with a spicy peanut sauce & cooked in the same gravy)

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PrepTime : Serves : Cook Time
10 Min 4 10Min


Ingredients :

8 small brinjals (golf-ball size)
2 handfuls peanuts (w/o the skin)
1 cup dessicated coconut
2 green chillies
1/2 tbsp pepper corns
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
2 chopped large onion
1/4 -1/2 cup curry leaves
cooking oil
2 ripe medium tomatoes -chopped
1/4 tsp cumin pwd
1 tbsp corriander pwd
1 tsp sugar

Cooking Instructions:

Run a knife into the bulb of each brinjal 3/4th way in towards the stem (not fully), the repeat perpendicular to this cut (cross cut). Repeat for all brinjals & place in a bowl of water with a pinch of turmeric powder & 1/2 tsp salt added to it.

Lightly roast peanuts, coconut & 1/2 the finely chopped onion and put these along with the chillies, cumin pwd, pepper corns, turmeric pwd, sugar, coriander pwd & 1/2 tsp salt. Coarsely grind (not a very smooth paste), pulsating only, till almost evenly coarse. Taste & add more salt if required.

Heat 4 tbsp oil in a non-stick kadai/ sauce pan, fry tomatoes till soft & then add this masala/ mixture & fry well for 5-6 minutes. Remove half of this mixture & stiff the brinjals with it.

In the pan with the remaining masala, add 1/2 cup (or 1-2 cups if you want more gravy) water, stir well & place the brinjals in it (stem above the gravy, bulbs immersed well into the gravy) & simmer covered for 5 minutes or till brinjals are cooked. Serve with piping hot rotis/ naan.

Muchboos (Arabic Chicken-Rice recipe)

Muchboos (Arabic Chicken-Rice recipe)

(An Arabic dish of rice & chicken where the rice is cooked in the chicken broth & topped with the friedn chicken, served with dakoos/hot-sauce/tobasco, fresh salad & laban)


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PrepTime : Serves : Cook Time
10 Min 4-5 30 Min


Ingredients :

1 full 1kg chicken
2 large cut onions
1 1" cinnamon stick
5 cardamoms
3-4 red dried chilies
5 cloves
1/2 tsp pepper corns
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp garlic-ginger paste
2 tsp salt
cooking oil
1/2 tsp red chili pwd
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin pwd
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 glasses rice - washed & drained
4 glasses water


Cooking Ingredients :

In a pressure cooker/ vessel, fry chopped onions in 2 tbsp heated oil, then add whole spices (cinnamon, cardamoms, red dried chilies, cloves, tsp pepper corns, bay leaves) & fry well. Add the garlic-ginger paste & salt & fry well. Add the whole chicken & toss the spices over & around it - fry for 2 minutes, tossing gently. Add the water, cover & cook till the chicken is done. Take the chicken out from this vessel & add the rice to it. Cook rice in this water & transfer onto a serving tray. Smear the cooked chicken with the red-chili, turmeric, cumin & pepper powders & the soy sauce and shallow fry on a frying pan in 2 tbsp heated oil. Turn over & ensure both sides are well colored to a dark red-brownish to golden-brown. Place this cooked chicken on the rice tray & serve with a cold salad, dakoos (or tobasco sauce/ hot sauce) & laban.

Note: This recipe can also be made with lamb but this is how we made it growing up in Kuwait.