KALKALS / KULKULS - KALKALS FOR CHRISTMAS




KALKALS or KULKULS are prepared all over India at Christmas time. A variant of ‘Filhoses Enroladas’ a Portuguese Christmas Sweet, Kalkals, (always referred to in the plural) are crunchy inch-long curled or shell shaped sweetened fried dough Sweets. Sugar and flour are combined with eggs, milk and butter to a soft dough and then small marble sized balls of this dough are rolled on the tines of a fork or a comb to form a shell or a scroll, then deep fried in hot oil. The dough is sometimes rolled out and cut into different shapes such as hearts, spades, diamonds etc with cutters or a knife and then deep fried in hot oil. The Kalkals / Kulkuls are later frosted or coated in hot melted sugar syrup. Since the preparation of  Kalkals is a time consuming process and requires many hands to help in its preparation, a separate day is designated as ‘Kalkal Day’ a few days before Christmas, when every member of the family spends a few hours rolling out his/her portion of the kalkal dough. While one doesn’t know how the name ‘Kalkals / Kulkuls’ got its nomenclature it is probably because of the “curls” of this particular Christmas Sweet.

RECIPE FOR KALKALS  (Fried sweetened balls of dough)
Serves 6  Preparation time 1 hour
Ingredients

I kg refined flour 
6 eggs beaten well
2 cups milk or thick coconut milk                
1 teaspoon salt                             
300 grams sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 teaspoon baking powder             
Oil for deep frying

Mix the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder together. 
Add the coconut milk and eggs and knead to a soft dough. 
Keep aside for an hour. 
Form the kalkals by taking small lumps of the dough and roll on the back of a fork or a wooden kalkal mould, to form a scroll. 

Alternately, roll out the dough and cut into fancy shapes with kalkal or cookie cutters. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry as many kalkals as possible at a time. Keep aside.

To frost the kalkals, melt 1 cup of sugar with ½ cup of water and when the sugar syrup crystallizes pour over the kalkals and mix well. Store in air-tight boxes when cold.  


HOT AND SPICY TRIPE CURRY / BOTY CURRY




Hot & Spicy Tripe (Boty Curry)

Spicy Tripe or Boty Curry was a very popular dish with the Anglo-Indian community. In the olden days it was prepared with freshly roasted and pounded ingredients. The Boty or the tripe would be washed well and cut into long thin strips then cooked in sufficient water for hours till tender over a firewood oven. Now with a pressure cooker the same dish can be prepared in just 45 minutes. It was served with bread or rice and sometimes as an accompaniment with drinks. Tripe tastes delicious with coconut rice.
Ingredients  
1 kg Tripe either beef or mutton sliced thinly

2 large onions chopped

2 teaspoons chillie powder

1 teaspoon pepper powder

½  teaspoon turmeric powder 
3 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger

2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic 
Salt to taste

2 green chillies slit lengthwise

1 teaspoon cumin powder

½  teaspoon coriander powder

½  cup cudla dhal (Bengal gram dhal) Optional 
2 potatoes boiled and peeled and cut into halves  

Wash the tripe well turning it inside and out. 
Cook it in sufficient water with the channa dhal (cudla dhal) / Bengal gram dhal and a little salt in a pressure cooker till soft. 
Drain and keep the soup aside. 
Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onions, ginger and garlic lightly. 
Add the sliced cooked tripe tripe, salt, turmeric powder, chillie powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and pepper powder and mix well. 
Add the soup.
Cover and simmer on low heat till the gravy thickens. Add the boiled potatoes and mix once so that the gravy covers the potatoes.
Serve hot with rice or bread. Tripe goes really well with Coconut Rice