How to Make Dodol – delicious Goan sweet

Authentic Dodol Recipe

With Christmas just around the corner, let’s learn how to make dodol, a very old and traditional Goan Christmas sweet and a favourite one for most Goans too. The dodol recipe is a simple one, but involves a lot of patient stirring.

Interestingly, dodol is made not just in Goa and Kerala and Tamil Nadu in India, but also in Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Macau, and some other territories. What’s common about these places is that all of them were once occupied by the Portuguese. Meaning the history of dodol goes back several centuries to colonial times. But, dodol is a hot favourite among the people of these territories till today.

Goan Dodol is made from simple ingredients like rice flour, jaggery, and coconut milk, but it is it’s melt-in-the-mouth texture and delicious taste that makes it truly special. You’ll understand why dodol is a much-loved sweet once you taste it.

Making dodol calls for a lot of stirring and loads of patience, but the divine taste of this Christmas time sweet will make you feel that all the effort that went into making it was worth it.

Do check out my recipes for other Christmas sweets  like the Goan Baath cake, crunchy Goan Kulkuls, festive Goan neories, and fragrant Goan Bolinhas.

Ingredients

3 cups (300g) grated coconut,

(From 1 ½ large coconuts)

110g (½ cup + 3 tbsp) rice flour

300g palm jaggery

¼ tsp salt

3 tbsp Sugar

¼ cup broken cashew nuts

½ tsp ground cardamom (optional)

Procedure

1. Extract around 1 ½ cups thick coconut milk + 3 ½ cups thin milk from the grated coconut.
2. Warm the thin coconut milk and dissolve the grated jaggery in it.
3. Transfer the rice flour into the vessel in which you’ll be making the dodol. Strain around 1/3 of the jaggery solution into this. Stir to make a smooth slurry with the rice flour. See that there are no lumps in this slurry. Strain the rest of the jaggery solution into the vessel and discard the stuff left on the strainer.
4. Stir the contents of the vessel and set it to heat on a medium flame. Add in the salt and the sugar.
5. The mixture will soon start thickening so stir it continuously to ensure it doesn’t burn. Use a long-handled spoon. This will prevent splotches of the hot mix from causing blisters on your fingers once the mix starts spluttering.
6. After around 5 – 6 minutes when the mixture starts thickening some more, pour in the thick coconut milk. Keep stirring the mixture continuously. Once it becomes very thick, it will start splattering, so be careful.
7. After around 30 minutes, the mixture will be so thick that as you stir it, you’ll be able to see the bottom of the vessel. At this stage, add in the broken cashew nuts and keep stirring.
8. After around 40 – 45 minutes, the mixture will be darker and glossier, and will start leaving the sides of the vessel. Continue stirring for another 3-4 minutes to get rid of some more moisture from the dodol mix.
9. Take the vessel off the heat and transfer the hot mixture to a greased mould like a 9″ x 4″ loaf pan. Spread the mixture evenly in the mould. Tap the mould several times and then level the top with a spatula.
10. Let the dodol cool completely and after around 2 hours or more, de-mould it.
11. Slice the dodol.

Enjoy!