Neureos – Deep Fried Sweet Coconut Dumplings

No Christmas in Goa is complete without the Christmas Sweet Platters made up of Neureos, kulkuls, Bebinca, Dodol, Doce, Kokada, Jujups(Sugar coated square gummies) and Marzipan (made of cashew’s). Coconut plays a major role in the Goan Christmas sweet making.

In Goa Christmas sweet making preparations would start a week to 10 days early. Since my mom was a working mother it was fun for us to watch her and the hired help make each sweet separately after school. The smell of the deep-fried Neureos, Kulkuls would make our mouths water. Before the start of the sweet preparations tradition called for a dough cross to be fried first so that all the preparations and hard-work would be blessed with a tasty outcome. Traditions also called for making a lot of the sweets to share and exchange with immediate family, friends and close neighbors which is called as consuada. But these traditions are now a dying traditions as people are more busy and ready to eat Goan Christmas sweets are much more easily available in the markets.

My recipe of neureos may be different from others. There are variations in the dough where cream of wheat is added for a slight crunch to the crust and the filling is made with roasted cream of wheat along with the grated coconut. I have cut the sugar as I do not enjoy my sweets or desserts to be too sweet and I have not included the cream of wheat in the filling. If you would like to add to my recipe the please do in the comment section. I would love to hear how you do yours.

Serving Size: 35-40

Ingredients:

For Filling:

8.2 oz of frozen grated coconut

3.3oz dehydrated coconut

1 1/4 cup of granulated sugar (you can add more if you want it sweeter)

1/4 cup of slivered almonds or crushed cashews

3/4 cup raisins

8 cardamom

1/4 cup of water

pinch of salt

Directions:

On medium heat make a syrup of sugar and water. Add coconut, nuts and stir till the mixture thickens.

Then add the raisins, crushed cardamoms and cook till dry while stirring continuously on medium heat.

Set aside and let cool. Divide the mixture in equal portions about approx 35-40.

For Dough :

2 cups of regular flour (please do not use self rising)

2 tbsp of cream of wheat /rava/ semolina (optional)

3 tbsp of melted butter / ghee

1/4 tsp of salt

3/4 cup approx water for dough texture

Directions:

Mix all the above ingredients together till a nice soft dough is formed.

Let stand for 1 hour. Divide the dough in equal parts approx 35-40 round ball pieces. Cover with a moist towel so that the dough balls do not dry.

Then roll each dough ball to be an approx 4″ circle. Add the filling to the circle. Fold to a half-moon shape and seal the open ends with your fingers dipped in water. Press with the edge of your fork for a decorative look.

Deep fry till lightly browned and crust is crispy.

Cool and enjoy with a nice cup of tea.