Prawns are the most common stuffing for a popular Goan snack, called Rissóis de Camarão
PIC COURTESY: tripadisor.in
Rissóis are a Portuguese-influenced snack, which is relished across Goa. This breaded pastry, which is half-moon shaped, is generally filled with meat, or shrimp, in béchamel sauce. It is an essential item in several cafés, at parties and other events all over Goa.
When filled with a prawn stuffing, it is called Rissóis de Camarão.
While the traditional filling is shrimp, other fillings such as chicken, minced beef, fish, cheese and even vegetables are becoming increasingly common in Goa.
RECIPE: Rissóis de Camarão (Prawn Rissoles), Goa style
INGREDIENTS
For the cover:
1½ cups milk
4 tbsp butter, salted or unsalted
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
For the stuffing:
½ onion, finely chopped
15 prawns, medium sized, finely chopped
½ cup milk
1 slice cheese
¼ tsp crushed pepper
For coating and deep frying:
1 egg (beaten and mixed with 2 tbsp water)
Breadcrumbs, as required
Oil for deep frying
Stuffing is added to circles of dough, which are then folded to give the distinct half moon shape to rissóis
METHOD
To prepare the stuffing:
In a pan, fry the onions in 2 tbsp oil until soft and translucent.
Next, add the prawns. Cook till just done.
To the same pan, add 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp flour. Fry for 1 minute.
Add milk and cook for another 2 min till the sauce thickens.
Now, add cheese and pepper. Mix well.
Leave aside to cool.
For the cover:
Boil milk, salt, sugar and 2 tbsp butter. Add flour, and mix well.
Cook for 3 min till it forms a ball.
Next remove the ball, and place it on the kitchen platform.
Knead the dough while still hot and form into 3 balls.
Roll out each ball and cut into circles.
Add a little prawn filling to each circle. Then, fold and press the edges to get a half moon shape.
Dip each of these half moons in the egg wash, followed by breadcrumbs.
Deep fry till golden brown.
Serve hot or at room temperature.
TIPS FOR MAKING RISSÓIS
The technique for making the dough is similar to the one used for choux pastry ie it is slightly dried on the stove by stirring, until all the flour is absorbed and forms a ball. Let the dough cool a little before rolling it.
The size of rissóis is up to you. In general, bite-sized portions are preferable.
The batter for the filling is a kind of thick béchamel. The sauce should boil for a few seconds so that it is quite thick, and must be completely cool before you start stuffing the rissóis.
Fry only a few rissóis at a time, so that they can easily be turned in the pan, and also have enough room to brown correctly. If you have prepared too many, you can consider freezing them once breaded.
In Goa, the common recipe uses a béchamel sauce, made of butter, flour and milk and flavour it with a chicken bouillon cube.
Once you form the half moon shapes, and, before deep frying them, you can refrigerate them in the freezer for an hour. They will then puff up well upon deep frying. They can also be stored in the freezer for a month or more.
You can use rava/semolina, instead of breadcrumbs, for coating. Or, you could use equal quantities of rava and breadcrumbs.