Kulkuls

Kulkuls or kalkals are special sweet curled eggless cookies which are made on special occasions like Christmas. Specially prepared by Indian Catholics (Mangaloreans, Goans and East Indians), but nowadays its very famous and loved all over India. In India Christmas is incomplete with these Kulkuls and Fruit Cake.

These lovely little curls cookie dough is made up of all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, semolina, ghee (clarified butter), powdered sugar and coconut milk. Then rolled into beautiful shapes using fork or gnocchi maker or unused comb and deep-fried or air-fried until crispy.

It’s that time of the year again when everything around is cheerful and joyous, bringing back a lot of fond memories from childhood. It’s Christmas time and today I am going to share deep-fried and air-fried Kalkals, a healthy version of the famous Christmas treat.

I have used a combination of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour, however you can also make them with either whole wheat or all-purpose flour or combination. It is easy to make and will also keep your health in check in this festive season.

These traditional Goan recipe are fun to make with the family. It takes time to roll each one with a fork, so I asked my toddler son to help me with making tiny balls and then I was rolling them to make curls. We didn’t even realized when we finished all the dough. He was busy in making and counting dough balls and singing his rhymes.

While I was still frying he was patiently waiting for the previous batch to cool down so that he can munch on them. Once they are fried he was super excited to see how it turned out. He calls them Skull cookie instead of kul kul cookie and I love it so I didn’t corrected him.:)

It is a tea-time snack recipe that you can make for your family and munch on it with a hot cup of tea. They keep very well if stored in an airtight container, so you can make them ahead to enjoy for the holidays. Kulkuls are a traditional part of a sweets plate and ideal to give to friends and neighbors.

In this blog I will also show you different options to shape the kulkuls along with some tips and trick. Do give it a try and share.

Do try other similar recipes:

• Fruit Cake
• Almond Coconut Cookies
• Chocolate Lava Cake
• Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
• Cherry Ice Cream
• Cake Pops
• Thumbprint Cookies
• Dry Fruit Chikki
• Mawa Gujiya
• Kalakand
• Kaju Namak Pare
• Namkeen Boondi
• Samosa
• Samosa chaat
• Layered Samosa
• Potli Samosa

Preparation Time: 30mins  ∏  Cooking Time: 25mins  ∏  Servings: 5-6 persons

Level: Intermediate(Medium)  ∏  Measurement: 1 Cup ≡ 250 ml ≡ 250gm

Ingredients Checklist:

For Deep Frying Kulkuls

Step19: Now heat oil in a Kadai on low-medium heat. To check if the oil is ready, drop a small piece of dough into the oil. The bubbles should rise on top. That means the oil is ready.

Step20: Depending upon the size of the Kadai/pan add rolled kulkuls, do not overcrowd them.

Step21: Fry the Kulkuls on the low-medium flame for 3-4 minutes. After some time you will notice that they will start floating then flip them using a slotted spoon. At this point, increase the heat to medium. Keep frying.

Step22: Fry them on medium heat till they turn golden brown or crispy. The frying procedure for each batch will take at least 7-8 minutes. Initially, they will be a little soft, but after cooling down they will become crispy and crunchy. Strain them with a slotted spoon on a plate. Fry all the Kulkuls the same way.

Step23: Take them out on a kitchen paper, dust some powdered sugar and mix well.

For Air Frying Kulkuls

Step24: Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes on 360 Deg F. Then place all prepared prepared Kulkuls into the basket. Spray some oil or butter on top of it. Fry them at 360Deg F for 12-15 mins.

Step25: After 10 minutes, shake the basket and air-fry the kulkuls for 2-3 more minutes or until the they become golden brown and crispy from all sides. Remove them from basket and sprinkle some powdered sugar while they are still warm.

Step26: Crispy, Crunchy bite-size Kulkuls are ready. Let them cool down to room temperature then enjoy or store them in an air-tight container on the shelf.

Tips:

• You can use regular cow milk instead of coconut milk.
• Dust some powdered sugar on the fried Kulkuls/kalkals while they are still warm.
• I personally like rolling it on a comb because the texture is well defined as compared to fork.
• Rub flour between the palms until the oil/ghee is well incorporated with the flour and make a breadcrumb-like crumble mixture. Mix everything very well so that you may achieve a sandy texture.
• You may also use whole wheat flour for making these Kulkuls. But I will recommend using mix of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour or make them entirely using all-purpose flour to make this snack more crunchy and pleasurable.
• Always fry thekalkals on low-medium heat, it will take little time but it is very important as it will make the them crispy and well cooked inside.
• If you want to make it vegan use oil instead of ghee in the dough. Adding ghee gives it the flaky texture. So I recommend to use ghee if it’s ok with you.