Alle Belle or Ale Bele are Goan-style coconut and jaggery pancakes; they are made with a light batter of flour and eggs, without yeast, and filled with coconut flakes and jaggery, which is an unrefined sugar block derived from palm sap, and consumed on the street or prepared in every home especially during the Carnival period.
Goa, which I had the pleasure of seeing on my trip to India, is the only area in India where Carnival is celebrated, having arrived with the Portuguese who governed for over five centuries.
Although the festival itself fell into obscurity during the last years of colonialism, it was resurrected as a minor street celebration by Timoteo Fernandes in 1965, a Goan musician who modeled it on the Rio Carnival.
The festival is known as “Intruz” or “Entrado”, or colloquially as “Viva Carnival”; the most festive celebrations are held in the city of Panaji.
It is celebrated for three days and three nights, with the legendary King Momo, usually a local resident, presiding over the festivities.
The streets fill with masks, parades, floats, music, and lots of fun.
The celebrations end with a grand ball at the Club National in Panaji.
If you don’t find jaggery for Alle Belle, you can use whole cane sugar or molasses or panela.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Indian
- Seasonality: Carnival
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- pinches salt
- as needed clarified butter (ghee)
- 1/2 cup grated coconut
- as needed jaggery (or brown sugar or panela)
- as needed cardamom (powdered)
- as needed water
Steps
Mix the flour, with the egg, a pinch of salt, and milk.
Create a liquid batter, then heat the clarified butter in a small diameter pan and create a kind of pancake, as thin as possible.
DO NOT stack them on top of each other.
Prepare the filling with coconut, a pinch of salt, the sugar, and a few teaspoons of water and cardamom powder.
Fill each pancake and roll it up, folding it like a package.
You can purchase Jaggery online.
You can purchase Jaggery online.
