HASHAALE (MELON AND COCONUT MILK DESSERT)

Hashaale is a sweet dish from the NKGSB cuisine of Karwar. This cuisine, as I have mentioned earlier, uses a lot of seasonal fruits, coconuts and jaggery in the daily cooking. Basically their cooking is quite simple, but delicious and nutritious too.

Hashaale is a sweet dish made using a melon called Chibud, which is not too sweet in taste. The preparation is quite easy and simple as there is no cooking, just a mixing of few ingredients and the dish is ready! Melons, coconut and jaggery when combined, not only create a unique flavourful dish, but a highly nutritious one too!

For some more traditional sweet dishes, do take a look at the following recipes too…

1. Karwar Style Madgane With Rajgira And Oats
2. Shrikhand
3. Gaajar Halwa
4. Paatolyo

Here’s the recipe for Hashaale….

Prep Time : 20 min

Serves : 5

INGREDIENTS :

• 2 cups Coconut Milk (Extract of 2 cups Fresh Coconut)
• 1/4 cup Chemical Free Jaggery… To be adjusted
• 1 1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
• 2 cups Cubed Chibud (1″ pieces)
• 1 1/4 cup Red Flattened Rice (Pohe/Pohaa)

METHOD :

1. To make Hashaale, first we need to extract fresh coconut milk.
2. For that, add the fresh grated coconut to a mixer grinder and add about 1 cup clean water to it.
3. Grind well to get a fine paste. Transfer it to a sieve and squeeze it tightly over the sieve, a little at a time with your hands to extract the coconut milk.
4. Transfer all the squeezed coconut paste once again to the mixer grinder and add just 1/2 a cup of water.
5. Grind well and squeeze it again over the sieve to get some more milk.
6. Repeat the above two steps once again with just 1/4 cup water to get a total quantity of 2 cups of fresh coconut milk.
7. Transfer this coconut milk to a bowl and add the cardamom powder to it.
8. Add jaggery as per taste, and dissolve it in the coconut milk by smashing it with your fingers in the milk itself.
9. Now add the flattened rice and mix well. Allow it to soak for about a minute.
10. Lastly, peel and discard the seeds of the melon and cut it into cubes. Add these melon cubes to the sweetened coconut milk.
11. Serve the delicious Hashaale immediately after preparation as a dessert or a light breakfast!

Note :

The Hashaale should be served immediately after preparation, as the fruit can turn rancid if kept for too long in the coconut milk.

Though I have used Red Pohe (flattened rice) in this dish, any other normal variety can be used.

If desired, keep the sweetened coconut milk separate in a container and the chibud in another in the refrigerator and mix together just before serving. But it is advisable to finish it off the same day!

Pics depicting the preparation processof Hashaale….

1. Grated Coconut :

2. Ground paste transferred to the sieve :

3. Squeezed paste transferred once again to the mixer grinder :

4. Coconut Milk :

5. Addition of cardamom powder :

6. Addition of jaggery :

7. Sweetened coconut milk :

8. Red Pohe (flattened rice)

9. Hashaale :