Move Over Cookies, Pair Your Tea With Pinaca – Goan Rice Ball Cookies

What’s a cup of tea without some cookies on the side! Coconut cookies, chocolate cookies, cream-filled cookies etc. – we just love bingeing on these scrumptious quick bites any time of the day. Besides, cookies make a popular snack among all to curb short-term hungers. Which is why, we stash different types of cookies in our pantry for whenever we want them. Adding to the variety of cookies in your cookie jars, we bring a unique snack for you, made with rice flour, jaggery and more. It is called pinaca- a popular rice ball snack from Goan cuisine.

Yes, Goan cuisine is more than just vindaloo. We agree, mutton/pork/chicken vindaloo defines the food culture of the state, but if you explore, you will find an extensive variety of dishes that are delicious, unique and extremely flavourful. The cuisine here has a strong influence of Indian and Western food cultures; hence, every dish here sees a unique combination of spices, herbs and ingredients leaving a strong impression on our palate. Pinaca is surely one such dish that impressed us to the core. Hence, we thought of sharing the authentic pinaca recipe with you. Let’s look at the recipe.

How To Make Pinaca | Goan Rice Ball Cookies Recipe:

For this recipe, we used coconut, jaggery and rice flour. You may also replace white rice with brown rice to make it healthier. You can easily get rice flour at any nearby store. But if you want to make it at home, here’re a few steps to follow:

1. Wash parboiled rice well. Do not take basmati or any other scented rice.

2. Now soak the rice for at least 3 hours.

3. Drain the water and spread it on a large kitchen towel or clean cloth and let it dry completely. You may keep it under the sun for better result.

4. Now, transfer the rice in a food processor and grind into a smooth powder. Store it in an air-tight jar.

Now, once you have the rice flour handy, grind the jaggery and coconut together and mix the rice flour. Mix everything well into soft dough and make small roundels out of it. And pinaca is ready in no time. If you do not have rice flour, just dry roast rice and grind into powder and follow the rest of the steps.

Click here for the step-by-step recipe of pinaca.

Always let it set for at least half an hour before you eat. While fresh pinaca tastes the best, you may store it for a day or two in an airtight jar.

Whip up pinaca today and pair with your cup of tea.