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Ruchik Randhap

Food & Memories of Mangalore

You are here: Home / Mangalorean Recipes / Thoushyache Mandas ~ Rice & Cucumber Cake + Video!

February 28, 2013

Thoushyache Mandas ~ Rice & Cucumber Cake + Video!

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One of Mangalore’s most traditional sweet dishes is the ‘Mandas’ (pronounced as ‘muhn-daas’). Every community prepares it and every household has a different version of it. Taste wise it comes close to a Zucchini bread or any cake with a good amount of fruit in it. It’s more of a pudding than a cake as it has this puddingy wobbly texture and density.
Similar to how the western ‘Cake’ started off without a leaving agent – yeast, baking powder or baking soda (apparently the Egyptians were the first skilled bakers) our dear old Mangalorean ancestors learnt to bake their own version of the cake sans leavening agent, although it was more or less dense and thick and the preparation of which took a very long time.
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The women of the house would rise early and get the day’s meal ready and also start off with the preparation of the Mandas which involved soaking the rice, grating coconuts to extract the thick milk (called as roce in Konkani) and gathering & preparing the cucumbers to be ground in a traditional vaan (grinding stone/mortar pestle). The batter was then poured into a pan smeared generously with ghee and kept on very slow fire. The sweet dish would then be ready for tea time as men would return from the fields or workplaces and the children from school and would devour this hearty snack.
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Sometimes the preparation began late at night, when the day’s cooking was done and the family was preparing to retire to bed. The pan containing the batter was placed over a dying fire and live coals were placed on the lid that covered the pan. This ensured that the heat of the stove was enough to slowly cook the batter from below the pan and the live coals on top provided a two way heat. This technique was called as ‘voir pondha uzo‘ (voir means up/top and pondha means down or underneath and uzo means flame/fire) which was a local ‘oven’ technology. Live coals were easily available in those days as every ranchekood (kitchen) had a quintessential ranni (earthen stove fueled by firewood). Charcoal was also available in plenty as traditional bathrooms which housed large copper cauldrons called as ‘baan‘ to heat water were also fueled by firewood, sticks, dried coconut shell (katti) and its fibre (sonn), dried coconut palm (pido) and dried leaves (sukhi koli).
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Owing to the fact that every family was large in those days each having at least 8-10 children and their parents and a few more adults thrown in for good measure, Mandas was prepared in bulk. Since rice was a crop grown in their own paddy fields, people could afford to make several dishes out of rice including sweets to feed an army of a family (usually a joint family). So it is little wonder that if you look through some old recipe books written by your mom or grand mom you will find quantities mentioned in bulk – 2 kilos of rice, 1 kilo of cucumbers, 1 kilo of jaggery and so on which in today’s age is probably enough to feed your entire building society! Nuclear families living in cities don’t have the luxury of eating a Mandas made the traditional way (with live coals & all) and they also need to scale down the ingredients drastically. Which is what I’ve done. I did post a recipe of Mandas earlier, but this recipe is a better one as it is made from lesser quantity of ground grated coconut which packs more flavour into it than coconut milk (it takes more coconuts to extract thick milk/first extract)

Although the process may seem lengthy, it really is a simply, delicious and nutritious snack – best eaten on Sunday mornings for breakfast. Do try it and let me know how you liked it!

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Above pic: The first attempt at baking – the surface should have a lovely brown colour.


About the dish
Baked Version

Mandas is a traditional pudding cooked for over an hour over slow fire or live coals. It has a pudding like texture and a great aroma thanks to the fragrance of firewood. Since I have baked it in an oven I have called it a ‘cake’, but don’t expect a fluffy sponge cake – you will be sorely disappointed. Since it makes no use of yeast or baking powder (although you can add some if you wish) it will be dense. Be generous with the ghee which provides all the moisture it needs in an oven. Towards the end of the baking time you may change the oven setting to ‘Broil/Grill’ to get that browned surface – just in case you like it made the traditional way. However, be watchful and don’t let the surface burn like I did!See the picture above – it was my first attempt which resulted in a lovely brown – the second attempt is the picture below  – perils of being forgetful and not keeping a timer 🙁

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Steamed Version:

To make a steamed version, reduce the jaggery a bit (see notes). You will also need a idli / dhokla / sanna steamer (tondor). Place sufficient water in the steamer and place sufficient banana leaves to cover the entire plate (shelf inside the steamer). Grease the leaves with ghee and then pour in the batter. Steam on a full flame for about an hour. Do the knife/skewer test to check doneness. The thickness of the Mandas will depend on the diameter of your steamer – a larger diameter will result in a thinner Mandas and vice versa.

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Vegan Version
This dish is eggless, gluten free, dairy free, soy free and can be nut free and vegan if you skip the cashew nuts and ghee!

Baked Mandas (Rice & Cucumber Pudding/Cake)
Prep time: 30 mins + soaking time: 3 hours | Baking time: 1 hr 15 mins (approx) | Servings 6-7

You Need

  • 1 cup (200 grams) parboiled rice /Idli rice / Mutambo *see notes
  • 1 cup (2 medium sized) cucumber roughly chopped
  • 1 cup freshly grated coconut
  • 1 cup jaggery (150 grams) * see notes
  • 1/2 cup ghee * see notes
  • 2 cardamoms
  • a fistful cashewnuts roughly chopped * see notes
  • salt to taste (approx 1/2 teaspoon)

Method:
1. Wash the rice a couple of times till the water runs clear. Cover it with enough fresh water and keep aside for 2-3 hours.
2. Wash and peel the cucumbers and cut them vertically, scoop out the pith (seeds) and then chop into small cubes. Grind the chopped cucumber and grated coconut to a fine paste. If using a mixer grinder, add very little water only if required.
3. Add the soaked rice and grind to a fine rawa like grainy texture. The consistency of the batter should be thickish like dosa batter. Use water sparingly to grind. Add the powdered jaggery, cardamom pods and salt to taste and continue to grind until all the jaggery has dissolved and there are no lumps. Finally add the ghee and pulse for just a few seconds till well mixed.
4. Grease a 7″ round cake tin with ghee or butter. Line it with baking parchment and grease the insides again. Preheat oven at 220 degrees C for about 10 minutes.
5. Pour the ground batter into the prepared tin and stir in the chopped cashew nuts. Decorate the center with whole cashewnuts. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 180 degrees C and bake for approximately 1 hour 10 minutes (see notes) or till the knife, skewer inserted comes out clean.
6. Remove the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. Invert the tin and allow the mandas to cool completely.
7. Peel off the parchment paper, cut and serve.

Notes:
1. If you do not have par boiled rice, you can use a mix of boiled rice & raw rice.
2. You may substitute ghee with coconut oil, but it wont taste as good. Alternatively you can mix the two if you wish.
3. Depending on the size of the tin and oven used the baking time may vary between 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. If you want a brown surface you can change the oven settings to the ‘Broil/Grill’ mode for the last 5 minutes (if you have a small oven). A brown surface will add to the taste.
4. Adjust the jaggery to taste. 150 grams will not be too sweet if you are wondering just that. However if you are making the steamed version, reduce the jaggery to about 3/4th cup instead of 1 cup (or adjust to taste) or else it may taste too sweet if you intend to have it for breakfast.

Tip:
Lightly fry the chopped cashewnuts in ghee before adding them to the batter – this enhances the taste of the Mandas

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Filed Under: All Posts, Mangalorean Recipes, Poli & Seasonal Specialities, Recipes With Video Tagged With: Cucumber Mandas, Mandas, Pudding, Rice Pudding, Traditional Mangalorean Recipes, Traditional Mangalorean Sweet Dish

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Comments

  1. runnergirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com says

    February 28, 2013 at 2:27 pm

    This is something very new to me..liked everything about this dish!

    Reply
    • william sequeira says

      January 27, 2018 at 12:37 pm

      did the above dish all at once in the mixer n baked it. it turned out excellent with half the time. try it.

      Reply
      • Shireen Sequeira says

        January 28, 2018 at 2:11 pm

        For how long did you bake it and at what temperature?

        Reply
        • william sequeira says

          October 12, 2022 at 6:59 pm

          i placed in my air fryer 30mins 180 temp n it was ready.

          did again today same excellent result.

          my calls me 2min cook.

          Reply
          • Shireen Sequeira says

            October 14, 2022 at 9:45 am

            That sounds fantastic!! Thanks for the feedback! I need to try it in my airfryer then!

  2. Sumee says

    February 28, 2013 at 5:00 pm

    I have had steamed version before… Baking sounds good..

    Reply
  3. Priya Yallapantula says

    February 28, 2013 at 7:47 pm

    wow, love such authentic and special traditional recipes. Looks awesome.

    Reply
  4. Priya says

    March 1, 2013 at 11:32 pm

    Wat an authentic and beautiful traditional cake, i want to have few slices that the steamed one is very tempting.

    Reply
  5. Rinku Naveen says

    March 2, 2013 at 10:10 am

    Mandas look too good. It looks similar to the kalathappam. Loved the clicks. The banana leaf makes it look even more good. 🙂

    Reply
  6. Anita says

    March 3, 2013 at 3:56 am

    What a co-incidence! Bought cucumbers a few days ago planning to look up this recipe on the internet to try and voila.. saw a mail in my mailbox mentioning this as the latest recipe.. 🙂 already made it and loved eating it! Thank you..

    Reply
  7. anu george says

    January 4, 2016 at 6:18 pm

    Wow this is something i never heard off…will be trying this..

    Reply
  8. Shireen says

    January 23, 2016 at 9:16 am

    Thanks everyone for your lovely comments!!

    Reply
  9. Nina says

    October 2, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    Hi Shireen,
    Do you know what I need to do to substitute rice with rawa(cream of wheat)? Do I need to add eggs?
    Thank you!

    Reply
  10. Shireen says

    January 3, 2017 at 6:19 am

    @ Nina: Sorry for the delayed response. If you are making this recipe with rawa you can add eggs to make it more delicious although the result may be a lot like a dense cake. I have never tried it with rava so no idea!

    Reply
  11. Chitra Vaz says

    February 21, 2017 at 12:07 am

    Hi Shireen, Prepared the mandas based on your recipe. Came out delicious. Thank you very much for posting this special sweet item.

    Reply
  12. Shireen says

    February 28, 2017 at 6:07 am

    @ Chitra Vaz: Thanks so much for your feedback! So glad to know that you enjoyed it 🙂 Do stay tuned for more recipes!

    Reply
  13. Lydia Doha says

    March 31, 2017 at 6:03 pm

    Hi Shireen, will this recipe work with jackfruit, instead of cucumber?

    Reply
  14. Shireen says

    April 2, 2017 at 6:54 am

    @ Lydia Doha: I am sure you can substitute cucumber with jackfruit but it may taste a lot like patholi!

    Reply
  15. molinalisa says

    August 3, 2017 at 12:18 pm

    i love this dish. But why do i get heartburn after eating it each time?

    Reply
    • Shireen Sequeira says

      August 3, 2017 at 12:26 pm

      Hi,

      Cucumber doesn’t agree with a lot of people and causes indigestion. In Mlore we call it as ‘peenth’. Not sure if it’s applicable to a cooked form of cucumber though. It may be the same case with your or something else so it is always better to consult your doctor. I don’t have any medical advice to offer. Sorry!

      Reply
  16. Pramila says

    September 21, 2017 at 3:50 pm

    Hi Shireen, my mother used to make this on coal fire upside down in my childhood days. Since I feel steamed version is easy & safe I make it in the tondor regularly as evening snack.

    Reply
    • Shireen Sequeira says

      September 24, 2017 at 10:12 am

      Hi Pramila,

      Yes, the traditional way was using coals but since modern kitchens don’t permit it, my mom used to steam the batter too! Glad to know that you have kept the tradition alive. Do try it the baked way too!

      Reply
  17. lionel says

    May 20, 2018 at 8:43 am

    to make it more traditional
    fry fine sliced onions with half a cup of ghee and fry till golden brown
    add the above batter and cook it with low flame for 30 minutes ( closed lid )
    will email you the picture 🙂

    Reply
    • Shireen Sequeira says

      May 20, 2018 at 6:50 pm

      Hi Lionel,

      As far as I am aware, the version where fried onions are used as a garnish is typically borrowed from Bunt cuisine and is not traditionally Catholic style. However, I bet it tastes awesome and I am yet to try that version too! Please do share your picture! I’d love to hear from you!

      Reply
  18. juliana martis says

    August 26, 2019 at 2:30 pm

    I am confused with parboiled rice and boiled rice what is the difference or the color. I have seen reddiah color, and light yellowish color boiled rice I don’t understand the difference can you clear it.

    Reply
    • Shireen Sequeira says

      August 26, 2019 at 10:49 pm

      The reddish coloured rice you have seen is the boiled rice with bran on it. The yellowish coloured one is boiled rice without the bran. It is also called as polished boiled rice.

      Parboiled rice is made with a different process whereby it is partially boiled after being harvested. Hence it looks like it has whiteish spots on it. I will share a post soon to describe the differences

      Reply
  19. Irene Mascarenhas says

    May 23, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    Hi Shireen, I am very happy to know you on YouTube. Since so so many years. I was waiting to know some one, who is from Mangalore so that I get a chance to learn, all those recipes my mother n my grand mother’s use to make. I have so many many memories from childhood which I can’t forget about eating steam recipes, sweets etc. I am glad to have you, to know you, and to learn everything from you.

    My name is Irene Mascarenhas. I am from Mangalore. I lived in Bombay. Now I live in UK with my family.

    Thank you very much. Talk to you soon.

    Reply
    • Shireen Sequeira says

      June 1, 2021 at 4:32 pm

      Thank you so much for your comment Irene! Glad to know that my blog is of help to you! Stay connected!

      Reply

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I am Shireen Sequeira a Mangalorean living in Dubai. I love trying out new recipes and giving them a twist of my own. However, I do try my best to preserve the authenticity of traditional Mangalorean recipes. Know More...

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