Bebinca
Bebinca. Poetry from Goa on a plate. A mellifluous symphony of coconut milk and eggs. Guaranteed to bring a smile of contentment on your face
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain flour
- 9 egg yolks separated
- 3 cups thick coconut milk
- 1 cup thin coconut milk
- 1 cup sugat
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
- ghee for greasing
For Caramel
- 4 tbsp sugar
Instructions
To make Caramel
- In a saucepan, add the sugar and 1 tbsp water, cook over a low heat till the sugar starts to melt and starts to turn a gorgeous dark brown. Keep a close eye, you do not want the sugar to get burnt.
- At this stage, add 1/4 cup of water with extreme precaution, as the caramel shall be very hot and might splutter. Continue cooking over a low heat till the caramel thickens. Keep aside.
For Bebinca
- In a bowl take the plain flour, salt and nutmeg powder. Sift and keep aside.
- Take the egg yolks in another bowl, beat till fluffy. Add sugar. Pour in the thick coconut milk. Mix until the sugar dissolves completely.
- Add the sifted flour and thin coconut milk in batches to the coconut milk - egg yolk mixture, give it all a hearty whisk to make a lump free batter.
- Strain the batter, keep it covered for 7-10 minutes.
- Give it another hearty stir. Now divide the batter equally into two bowls. Add the caramel to one of the bowls to make a darker batter.
- Preheat the oven at 180C.
- Grease a 9x 5” pan generously with ghee.
- Pour 1/2 cup of the lighter batter, bake for 12-14 minutes. Keep a close eye. Take the pan out of oven when you start seeing brown specks form on the surface.
- Change the oven mode to broiler / grill with top heating only. Reduce the temperature to 170C.
- Carefully brush ghee on the top of the first layer of the bibinca and the sides of the pan.
- Give the batter a good stir, now pour 1/2 cup of the darker batter gently on top of the first layer of bebinca.
- Cook for 8-9 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven.
- Continue greasing with ghee and baking layers as described above, alternating between dark and light layers. Remember to give the batter a hearty stir each time before pouring.
- Once you are done with baking the last layer of the batter (I could make eight layers with the above mentioned quantities), brush ghee generously on the top.
- Allow the bebinca to cool down completely, refrigerate for at least 5-6 hours till completely set.
- Take the bebinca out from the refrigerator, gently loosen the sides with a knife. Very carefully flip it over a serving plate. Slice and serve.
Notes
The layers might puff up during baking Don’t panic, that’s perfectly alright . Keep it aside for 5 minutes out of the oven, the errant layer shall automatically settle down, in the worst case, gently prick the puffed layer with a toothpick to release the trapped air .