Bole ~ Traditional Mangalorean Semi Matured Coconut & Jaggery Cake
A traditional Mangalorean cake made with semi ripe coconut is moist, fluffy and delicately sweet cake with a very subtle yet undeniable taste of fresh coconut!
Servings 12 Servings
Equipment
- Cup measure used: 1 cup = 250ml
Ingredients
- 1 semi-matured coconut (adsar, flesh extracted (200 grams/1 heaping cup) *see notes)
- 1-1/2 cups (350 grams) grated/powdered jaggery
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 gramunsalted butter at room temperature
- juice and zest of 1 lime, optional
- 1 cup 130 gramall purpose flour (maida
- 1/2 cup 100 gramfine semolina (sooji/rava
- a pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup (35 grams) cashew nuts, coarsely chopped/broken
- 1/8 cup (15 grams) raisins, cleaned
- 1/2-1 teaspoon caraway (Persian cumin) seeds
Instructions
- Grease and line (or grease and flouan 8" or 9" round baking pan. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.
- Without adding any water, grind the coconut and the jaggery together till just blended. The moisture in both the ingredients will aid in grinding so don't add even a single drop of water or your cake batter will be too thin. There is no need to make a fine paste but ensure that there are no chunks of coconut or jaggery left. Keep aside
- In a bowl beat the eggs well and then add the butter to it and beat till just incorporated. The mixture will look slightly curdled but that's fine.
- Add the jaggery & coconut mixture to it along with the juice and zest of the lime.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the semolina, cashew nuts, raisins and caraway seeds and fold gently till everything is well incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the skewer inserted comes out clean. I baked it for exactly 35 minutes. Take care to see that you don't over bake the cake or it will be robbed of its lovely moisture
- Remove pan and place on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then carefully unmould and let cool completely before slicing.
- Enjoy plain or with a cup of tea!
Notes
1.' Adsar' is in Konkani, a term given to coconuts that have crossed the tender coconut stage but haven't matured yet either. Sometimes they are plucked by mistake but when you try to slice them open (if you mistake them for tender coconuts), the tender shell would have hardened a bit. The flesh inside will no longer be delicate either and will need some effort to remove.
2. For this recipe you can actually ask your tender coconut vendor to give you the kind described in note#1. If you are unable to find it, a regular coconut is not the right substitute. Instead look for shelled coconuts (where the husk is removed) which look new, clean and fresh on the outside (the shell should be pale/light biscuit colour and the husk also looks clean). The three 'eye's on top of the it should also look clean and not blackened. This may be a suitable substitute.
3. If you are trying to open the coconut at home, make sure that the coconut flesh does not contain chipped off pieces of the shell.
2. For this recipe you can actually ask your tender coconut vendor to give you the kind described in note#1. If you are unable to find it, a regular coconut is not the right substitute. Instead look for shelled coconuts (where the husk is removed) which look new, clean and fresh on the outside (the shell should be pale/light biscuit colour and the husk also looks clean). The three 'eye's on top of the it should also look clean and not blackened. This may be a suitable substitute.
3. If you are trying to open the coconut at home, make sure that the coconut flesh does not contain chipped off pieces of the shell.