Rosette Cookies | Kokisan
Popularly known as Kokkis or Roce Cookies in Mangalore, these are thin, lacy, wafer like cookies prepared from seasoned coconut-milk batter during Christmas time as part of the “Kuswar” platter. These are prepared by dipping a hot iron mould into the batter and immediately immersing in hot oil to release the cookie into the oil for frying. Back home in Mangalore, some believe that since Coconut Milk is used in the batter, these cookies are known as Roce Cookies (Narlacho-Roce or in short, just Roce is the konkani word for coconut-milk). But, this assumption is far away from the truth!
The name is derived from the mould used for making these cookies. It’s called a “Rosette Iron”. A Rosette is a carved or molded ornament resembling or representing a Rose. The Rosette irons are predominantly flowery shaped, but they are available in diverse shapes. And if you think this is an Indian creation, you are once again far away from the truth. These cookies are a colonial nomad and have travelled to every corner where colonialization has taken place. Although the process and basic batter remains the same, each region has its own tweak made to the recipe.
In India, Rosette cookies are of-course made and enjoyed in Mangalore and Goa as part of the Kuswar preparation for Christmas, but they are also enjoyed in Tamilnadu and Kerala. Across the Indian borders, these cookies have a presence in Sri Lanka and Malaysia. You will come across it in Iran and also in far away Mexico. If one were to trace the roots of the Rosette Cookies, it is believed they originated in the Scandinavian / Norwegian region and came to India courtesy the Dutch. In the USA these are extremely popular in regions with Scandinavian ancestry.
Even in Norway and Sweden, these are predominantly made during Christmas. While the Norwegians prefer to stick to the Rosette Cookies, the Swedes prefer the ‘Timbale’. Timbale are thin pastry shells made using the same Rosette Cookie batter and filled with sweet or savory fillings.
Like I mentioned earlier, the basic recipe and the method remain the same but each region has its signature tweaks. While the Swedes and Norwegians use Dairy Milk for the batter, we prefer to use Coconut Milk. No prizes for guessing this as coconut is a key ingredient in Mangalorean cuisine and Indian Coastal cuisine in general. The Lankans infuse their version with Turmeric while the Iranians use Rose water and Mexicans love the addition of cinnamon to their rosette cookies.
How to make Rosette Cookies
The batter for the Rosette Cookies is pretty straight-forward to make but frying the cookies is bit of a technical affair and needs some practice or an extra pair of hands. The batter can be made of Rice-flour or all-purpose flour. Rice-flour Rosette Cookies hold their shape better and also are very crunchy but I personally prefer the soft-crunch of the all-purpose flour based Cookies.
To begin with, sift all-purpose flour with the seasonings viz. salt, ground cardamom and ground nutmeg. Add sugar and dry-whisk it into the mixture. Add the eggs and using a hand-held mixture or a balloon whisk beat them into the dry ingredients to form a paste. Add the coconut milk (in parts) and blend it until the mixture forms a batter of coating consistency.
While preparing the batter, parallelly bring the oil up to medium heat. Once the oil is hot enough, proceed with prepping the Rosette Iron. This is an essential procedure to get the cookies right. For best results, the Rosette Iron needs to be at the optimum temperature. It should be neither too hot, nor less hot. When dipped in the batter, the heat will make the batter to cling onto the Rosette Iron as a thin film. This when dipped into the oil, will release from the Rosette Iron to form a cookie.
For the cookie to hold its shape, the film formed by the batter should be sufficiently thick. If it is too thin, the cookie will be almost flat. When the Rosette Iron is not hot enough, the batter won’t cling well onto the Rosette Iron. When too hot, it will pick a thicker layer of batter and gravity comes into the picture and the batter drops back into the bowl.
Keep the Rosette Iron dipped in the hot oil for about 10 minutes. This should suffice to bring it to the optimal temperature. Dip the iron into the batter till the batter is upto 3/4th up the sides of the Iron (if you dip the mould completely in the batter, it will never release the cookie into the oil). As soon as a thin layer of the batter clings onto the iron, dip the iron into the hot oil and shake it a bit to release the batter into the oil, forming a thin cookie.
After a few seconds, flip the cookie over and continue to fry until it is evenly light-golden brown all over. Gently take it out of the oil and shake off excess oil and place on a absorbent kitchen towel to drain off the excess oil. This process needs to be executed with clockwork precision and hence one might need an extra pair of hands to help them until they get a hang of the whole process.
Repeat the above steps until all the batter is exhausted. Between each dip, leave the mould in the oil for a few seconds. Once the cookies have cooled completely, transfer them to an air-tight container. Although we Mangaloreans enjoy the Rosette Cookies plain, this isn’t the only way to enjoy them. Dust them with icing sugar or dip the edges in plain sugar or Cinnamon sugar or even dip it in melted chocolate. If you are feeling adventurous, make a lime sugar syrup and drizzle over the Rosette Cookies. Which ever way you try them, you won’t go wrong. Enjoy!
Rosette Cookies | Kokisan
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl, medium sized
- Sieve
- Hand-held mixer / Balloon whisk
- Rosette Mould
- Medium sized pot (for deep frying)
Ingredients
- 250 gms All-purpose flour
- ½ tsp Salt
- 3 pods Cardamom Seeds, powdered
- ½ tsp Ground Nutmeg
- ½ Cup Sugar
- 2 pc Eggs, Medium
- 1 tsp Vanilla (optional)
- 1 Cup Coconut Milk, Thick
- Vegetable Oil, for deep frying
Instructions
Making the Batter:
- Using a sieve, sift the All-purpose flour, salt, ground cardamom and ground nutmeg into the mixing bowl
- Add the sugar and whisk into the mixture
- Add the eggs and using a hand-held mixture or a balloon whisk beat them into the dry ingredients to form a paste
- Add in the vanilla (if using), followed by the coconut milk (in parts) and blend it until the mixture forms a batter of coating consistency.
Prepping the Rosette Mould:
- Before starting with the batter preparation, keep the oil to heat and bring it upto medium heat.
- Dip the mould in it for about 5 mins to bring it upto working temperature
Frying the Rosette Cookies:
- Dip the heated mould into the prepared batter until the batter is upto 3/4th up the sides of the mould
- As soon as a thin layer of the batter clings onto the mould, dip the mould into the hot oil and shake it a bit to release the batter into the oil, forming a thin cookie
- After a few seconds, flip the cookie over and continue to fry until it is evenly light-golden brown all over
- Gently take it out of the oil and shake off excess oil and place on a absorbent kitchen towel to drain off the excess oil
- Repeat the above steps until all the batter is exhausted. Between each dip, leave the mould in the oil for a few seconds (see notes)
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, transfer them to an air-tight container
Notes
- for best results, the mould needs to be at the optimum temperature. It should be neither too hot, nor less hot. When dipped in the batter, the heat will make the batter to cling onto the mould as a thin film. This when dipped into the oil, will release from the mould to form a cookie. For the cookie to hold its shape, the film formed by the batter should be sufficiently thick. If it is too thin, the cookie will be almost flat. When the mould is not hot enough, the batter won’t cling well onto the mould. When it is too hot, it will pick a thicker layer of batter and gravity comes into the picture and the batter drops back into the bowl.
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