Tavsali Goan Style | Konkani Tausali Recipe | Rava Cucumber Cake | Semolina Cucumber Cake | Kakdicha Sandan | Eggless | No oven | No bake recipe with detail step by step instructions and a video. Tavsali is an authentic and traditional Goan cake made from cucumbers and semolina. It is made from large seasonal cucumbers which are called as ‘taushe’ in Konkani. Hence, this cucumber cake is called as tavsali or tausali.
Tavsali Ingredients
Tavsali is made from large seasonal cucumbers known as taushe. These cucumbers are available in Goa during the monsoon season. For tavsali, it is very important that the taushe is fully grown or ripe. It should be large in size and should also have a yellowish tinge. Another important ingredient is the semolina or rava. In my home, we use coarse semolina or ‘moto rovo’ as we call it in Konkani to make tausali. Coarse semolina provides a lovely grainy texture to the cake.
In Goa, the tausali is steamed in a traditional stove top oven which is made from aluminium. The base of the stove top oven is lined with turmeric leaves which are also called as ‘haldichi paana’ in Konkani. The cucumber rava mixture is then placed in these leaves and cooked. These haldi leaves provide a lovely aroma to the tavsali. Like most Goan desserts, this sweet dish too contains coconut and jaggery for sweetening.
How to serve cucumber cake?
The process of making tavsali is slightly lengthy and time consuming. But the end result is definitely worth it. Tavsali is usually eaten for breakfast or as a tea time snack. It can also be served as a dessert post meals. The tavsali can be stored in a refrigerator and will stay good for 4 – 5 days.
You can also check out our other Goan desserts like mangane, nachni satva , kangachi kheer , atwal and kangachi nevri.
Check out more traditional and authentic Goan recipes on our youtube channel Bhukkad Recipes. Do not forget to like, share and subscribe!!
Ingredients
- 3½ cup grated cucumbers – 2 big cucumbers peeled and grated
- 2 cup coarse semolina
- 2 cup fresh grated coconut
- 2 cup grated jaggery
- 16 cashews – chopped
- ⅛ Tsp cardamom powder
- salt as per taste
- 2 Tsp ghee – for roasting the semolina
- turmeric leaves
- ghee – for greasing the oven
Instructions
- Wash and peel the cucumbers. Grate them. Measure the quantity of grated cucumbers.
- The above ingredient list is for 3½ cups of grated cucumber. Adjust the measure for remaining ingredients depending on your quantity of grated cucumbers.
- Take the semolina in a pan. Add ghee. Roast on a low flame till it gives out an aroma. This step will take approximately 12 minutes.
- Let the semolina cool down.
- In a pan, add grated cucumber, semolina, coconut, jaggery, cashews, cardamom powder and salt. Mix well.
- Cover the pan. Let the mixture rest for 4 hours.
- After 4 hours, cook the above mixture on a low flame for 5 minutes. Keep stirring in between to avoid sticking to the pan.
- Take the pan of the traditional gas oven. Apply ghee evenly on the base and sides of the pan. Cover the base with turmeric leaves.
- Spread the cucumber mixture evenly inside the pan. Press lightly and level the mixture.
- Light the stove and place the base of the gas oven on it. Adjust the base such that the flame passes through the centre of the base.
- Place the gas oven pan on the base. Put on the lid. Cook on medium flame for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, reduce the flame to low. Cook on low flame till sides of the tavsali cake turn brown. This will take approx. 45 – 60 minutes.
- Keep opening the lid in between and checking the tavsali. Rotate the pan so that tavsali gets cooked uniformly on all sides.
- Once the sides have turned brown, take a knife and poke through the tavsali. It should come out clean.
- If the knife comes out clean, then the tavsali is cooked properly. Switch off the flame.
- Leave the tavsali uncovered for 2 – 3 hours for it to cool down.
- After 3 hours, loosen the edges of the tavsali with a knife. With the help of a plate, invert the tavsali onto the plate.
- Remove the turmeric leaves from the top of the tavsali and discard. Cut the yummy tavsali cake into pieces and serve!!
Tips & Tricks
- The grated cucumbers was approx 3 and 1/2 cups. The measure for remaining ingredients is based on the quantity of cucumbers. So adjust accordingly. The quantity of rava, coconut and jaggery should be a little more than half of the quantity for cucumbers.
- The measure for ghee for roasting the semolina should be 1 Tsp for every cup of semolina.
- Tavsali can be stored in the refrigerator for 4 – 5 days.
- Tavsali is made from seasonal cucumbers called taushe. For tavsali, the taushe should have grown to a full size and should have a yellowish tinge.
- Use only coarse semolina for making tausali as it provides a good texture to the dish.