Kuswar
Encyclopedia
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Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
goodies which are part of the cuisine of the Goan Catholic
Goan Catholics
The Goan Catholics are an ethno-religious community of Roman Catholics and their descendants from the state of Goa, located on the west coast of India. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani language...
community of Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
and the Mangalorean Catholic community of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. There are as many as 22 different traditional recipes that form this distinct flavour of Christmas celebration in Goa and Mangalore. Kuswar originally hails from Goa, India.
Goa
Goan CatholicsGoan Catholics
The Goan Catholics are an ethno-religious community of Roman Catholics and their descendants from the state of Goa, located on the west coast of India. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani language...
' kuswar contains as many as 22 different traditional recipes that form this distinct flavour of Christmas celebration in Mangalore. Perada (Guava cheese) are a confection made from savory green guava
Guava
Guavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium , which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America...
s and sugar. Kidyo
Kidyo
Kidyo or Kulkuls is a food preparation that forms a part of the Kuswar. It forms a part of the goodies prepared for the Christmas festival celebrated in Goa and in and around the city of Mangalore, in the South West coast of India.-External links:***...
or Kulkuls are a semolina
Semolina
Semolina is the coarse, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat used in making pasta, and also used for breakfast cereals and puddings. Semolina is also used to designate coarse middlings from other varieties of wheat, and from other grains such as rice and corn.-Name:The term semolina derives from...
based confection flavoured with coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
and cardamom
Cardamom
Cardamom refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds...
. Neuero or Neuries are dough mixed with coconut, cashew nuts, raisins and cardamom and then deep fried. Bebik (Bebinca
Bebinca
Bebinca, also known as bibik or bebinka, is a type of pudding and a traditional Goan dessert. The ingredients include plain flour, sugar, ghee and coconut milk....
) is a layered baked dessert made with flour, sugar, coconut milk and ghee
Ghee
Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....
. Doce
Doce (sweet)
Doce is a popular sweet prepared during various ceremonies in Goa. It is a part of the Kuswar and is a popular sweet prepared during Christmas. The word doce means sweet in Portuguese, the colonial language of Goa....
(Doce de Grao) is a sweet made using chickpea
Chickpea
The chickpea is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae...
s and coconut. Marzipan
Marzipan
Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal. Persipan is a similar, yet less expensive product, in which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels...
a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal
Almond meal
Almond meal, almond flour or ground almond is made from ground sweet almonds. Almond flour is usually made with blanched almonds , whereas almond meal can be made both with whole or blanched almonds...
. Bolinhas are small cakes also known as coconut cookies made with Grated Coconut, sugar, semolina, egg yolks and butter, they are flavoured with cardamom shaped round with markings on top and baked gently. Nankatais resemble Snow balls, are made from Sugar, Butter, and flour beaten until light and white. Flavoured with vanilla and cardamom, rolled round and lightly baked. Baath is a moist rich coconut tart baked in a large round shape with pastry lattice work on top Flavoured with cardamom and currants, once baked its cut into pieces and served surrounded with the other sweets on the festive sweet tray. Kormolas are sweet coconut pastry rolled out cut in squares and hand shaped into flower buds. Pinarg (Pinaca) are cutlets like sweets made from jaggery and crushed rice. Mango Miskut are confection made from mango pulp and sugar. Tuelinnas (Tuelinnas de Coco) are a sweet made from scrapped coconut. Dodol are a type of jaggery and rice pudding.
Mangalore
Kidyo
Kidyo or Kulkuls is a food preparation that forms a part of the Kuswar. It forms a part of the goodies prepared for the Christmas festival celebrated in Goa and in and around the city of Mangalore, in the South West coast of India.-External links:***...
or Kulkuls are curly concoctions dipped in sugar treacle, Pathekas are savoury of green nandarkai bananas, theel laddus and jaw snapping Golios. Macaroons is what Manglore is famous for and the subtle flavored rose cookies are a hot favorite. But it is the Rich Plum Cake which takes the better part of a week to make. Candied fruit, plums, currents, raisins are dexterously cut and soaked in rum. Flour sieved and gently warmed in the sun. Nuts shelled and chopped and the whole family comes together to make the cake. Jobs are allotted, one to whip up the eggs, while another creams the butter and sugar, cake tins are lined, and a strong pair of arms requisitioned to do the final mixing and stirring. The Mitais, Mandas, Ushae, Pitae and Mani are well known sweet dishes and are also included in the kuswar.