Goan Chana Doce | Chonya Doce | Doce de Grao

‘Chonya Doce’ which translates to 'a sweet made of lentils' is among the nostalgic traditional Goan sweets that bring back memories of a huge pot cooking for hours upon a large fire in the backyard where ladies took turns stirring the contents with paddle spoons! While it's prepared at Christmas time, it is also considered a must-have at Goan weddings, where odd-numbered kilograms of this prepared sweet are exchanged between families. 

This style of preparation, with long cooking hours, and high amounts of sugar were a practice to naturally increase the shelf-life of the dish back when refrigerators were not in use. Decorating the Doce domes (referred to as 'boshi') and 'hajji' were an activity to look forward to at Christmas! If you have the opportunity, do involve members of the family in the process, especially children; they can explore their creativity in jobs as little as this :)

The cooking process is a long one, there is no denying that. The recipe below took me 50 minutes, with the flame almost constantly on high. But, as the common saying goes, the fruit of patience is sweet! This recipe can yield nearly 42 hajji. I divided my dough to create both, the hajji and boshi.

Tips:

• Soaking the lentils (dal) overnight reduces the time required for cooking it to make it soft and mushy.
• Grease the plate/surface upon which you'll be plating the mixture well before the doce mixture is done. 
• Use a paddle spoon/spatula with a long handle to avoid any drops of the bubbling mixture from falling upon your skin. Doce contains sugar and that sugar boils at high temperatures.
• The surface starts to develop a dry layer as it cools and that can affect the patterns you try to create; so plan the design ahead of time and work quickly.
• The decorative patterns on the surface are your choice; I tried the ‘pinch style’ as taught to me by my younger sister, Jessy. 
• While cutting the doce, cut just along the surface first and then cut again through the entire thickness, for a cleaner finish. 
• Apply some ghee upon the knife blade for ease in cutting.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cup Split Bengal Gram (chana dal)
• 3 cups grated Coconut
• 3 cups Sugar
• 2 teaspoons clarified butter (Ghee)
• 1 teaspoon Cardamom powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt

Method:

1. Wash and soak the lentils (chana dal) for 6-8 hours or over night. Drain the water, add the salt, stir, and then pressure cook them with 2 cups of water for 3 whistles. Let it cool for a while and then grind it to a fine paste.

2. Grind the grated coconut till fine with 3/4th cup of water (lesser the water, much less the cooking time).

3. Grease the plate and the flat board with clarified butter (ghee) and keep it ready.

4. In a heavy bottom/non-stick vessel, combine the ground lentils paste and the ground coconut with the sugar on a medium flame, stirring with a wooden spatula. Once the sugar melts, increase the flame and keep stirring. It will take at least 45 minutes.

5. Keep scraping the sides of the vessel frequently. When the mixture starts turning thick add the cardamom powder and mix well.

6. When the mixture is close to being ready, add the clarified butter (ghee).

7. The mixture is said to be ‘ready’ when it starts to leave the sides of the vessel. When this stage is reached, be quick to spoon it onto the greased plate/flat surface in order to plate the Doce as desired.

8. If you’re attempting the doce ‘dome’, press and shape the mixture with a spatula/greased butter paper. For the pinch-pattern, begin pinching the dome from the bottom, covering the circumference, and then consequently move upwards. Be sure to dip your thumb and index fingers in some ghee after every few pinches as this helps achieve a cleaner finish.

9. For the classic ‘hajji’ (the diamond shapes), roll the mixture to a 0.5 inch thickness, design the top surface if desired, and then cut into shape with a knife with a greased blade.

10. Allow the doce to set for a couple of hours to attain some firmness.

Dev Borem Korum | Thanks and God Bless