Move over Gulab Jamun and Kheer, there is a new sweet dish in town – Bebinca! Learn how to make this Goan delicacy at home.
India is a land of culture. And probably the most important part of this culture is food. Many Indian delicacies have made their way around the world, gaining fame for their taste and ingredients. But there are also many undiscovered and relatively unknown dishes in the Indian cuisine that are just waiting to be discovered. One of them is Bebinca – a traditional, rich dessert that is a must-have at any celebration in Goa. This multi-layered pudding made up of thin layers of a coconut-flavoured batter separated by ghee that is often referred to as “the queen of desserts.” It is present at weddings, gatherings celebrating a birth, and at the Christmas and Easter tables in Goa. Making this dish does require a bucketful of patience since each layer needs to be baked one at a time and each can take up to 4 hours. Traditional bebinca recipes have up to 7 layers, but it can also go up to 16, sometimes even more. However, if you do have the patience, it is a delicious dish that one should have at least once. Let’s see how to make it.
Bebinca
INGREDIENTS
1. Coconut Milk: 3 cups
2. Sugar: 1 cup + 7 tablespoons
3. Egg Yolks (Large): 24
4. All-Purpose Flour: 2 cups
5. Ghee (Clarified Butter): 1 1/2 cups
6. For Garnish: Almond Slivers
METHOD:
1. Preheat the broiler. Set up a rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Take a bowl and mix the coconut milk and sugar together until the sugar dissolves completely.
3. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks until they turn creamy.
4. Mix the coconut mixture with the eggs and combine well.
5. Add the flour a little at a time. Mix well until no lumps are left.
6. Take a baking pan and grease it well using 1 tablespoon of ghee. Put it in the middle rack of the oven and cook until it melts. Keep a careful watch on it.
7. Take out the pan and pour in enough batter to form a layer 1/4 inch thick. Place it back in the oven and cook until the top is golden.
8. Take it out of the oven, and immediately add another tablespoon of ghee on the previous layer while it is still hot. Pour another layer of the batter making sure the layer is 1/4 inch thick. Cook until golden.
9. Keep repeating the steps until all the batter is used up. Save some ghee for the top layer.
10. Once the cake is done, turn it over on a wire rack to let cool. Once cooled, garnish it with the almond slivers and serve it either cold or at room temperature.
