Recipe – Baath Stove Cake

Baath is a Goan semolina and coconut cake. The cake batter is usually kept overnight before baking. This is an old recipe I’ve been using for many years and it works without the overnight soak, without an oven and with a very flexible interpretation of instructions.

I hope you find it easy to follow.

---

STEP 1

• 1/4 Cup Sooji – finely powdered wheat semolina. Cup size of 250 ml to 300 ml.

Dry roast this on an iron tawa till it browns lightly.

STEP 2

• 1/4 Cup Sugar or less than this if you’d like it less sweet.
• A little more than a sprinkling of water – just enough that the sugar is all completely wet.

Heat on a low flame in a cooking bowl (use a bowl large enough to take the full cake mix for less washing) till the sugar dissolves and forms a transparent liquid. Add more water if needed to prevent browning.

STEP 3

Add the Roasted Sooji to the Sugar Syrup and switch off the stove immediately. Then add the following ingredients:

• 1 and a 1/4 Cup Dessicated Coconut
• Elaichi or Cardamom – 2 or 3 – Crush the skin and separate the seeds or powder them if you don’t like full seeds in your cake. I use the dry cardamom which is yellow in colour.
• A pinch of salt
• Baking powder (optional) – I usually forget to add this.

STEP 4

Cool the mixture until it’s at room temperature, then add the following:

• 1 Egg beaten all together.
• A little milk – as much as you need to be able to mix all the ingredients easily, but not too much. It should be a thick mixture that can be patted into place.

Mix well.

STEP 5

Oil a non-stick fry pan with any cooking oil. My pan is about 8 inches in diameter with a lip of about 1 and 1/2 inches.

Wipe the iron tawa and put it on a stove on a low flame, and place the oiled non-stick pan on it.

Let the non-stick pan warm up and then fill it with the cake mixture so it forms a layer about an inch thick, or a little more than that.

Cover the pan and cook on low until the base is brown and the cake is firm.

When done, it turns over easily onto a plate without crumbling. Move it back into the pan inverted so the other side can cook and brown.

Cool the cake completely before you store it.

---

I’m never ever exact with measures and with roasting and cooking time. It still works. I like it because it’s easy and the cake keeps for a few days.

I hope this recipe inspires other basic cooks like me, who only cook quick and easy, to bake at home. Please let me know how it goes if you try this recipe.