Coconut Nougat-Nouga Fannen- is a coconut candy made of freshly coarsely-grated coconut, flavoured with vanilla and nutmeg. It is delightfully sweet and nutty and a childhood favourite of mine.
- 400 g coarsely-grated coconut
- 400 g white sugar
- zest of an orange
- 200 ml water
- 5 drops vanilla essence
- 1 pinch nutmeg powder
- food colouring of your choice
-
Line a platter with grease-proof paper or a piece of banana leaf and keep
-
In a heavy pan dissolve the sugar in the water and bring to the boil until sugar solution starts to brown slightly . Do not caramelise your sugar.
-
Add the coarsely grated coconut, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon
-
Cook for about 15 minutes or until all moisture is evaporated
-
Add vanilla essence, orange zest and nutmeg and mix thoroughly
-
If you plan to add food colouring to your nouga, heat a small pot and transfer some of the nouga into it, and add drops of food colouring, according to your liking, and stir to thoroughly mix in the colours. You will require one pot per colour. Do not allow your nouga to cool down during this process or it will go crumbly.
-
Remove from heat and immediately place a tablespoon full in small loose heaps on the platter. The nouga will be soft initially and will harden up on cooling.
-
Allow to cool completely before serving or storing
This recipe calls for 400 g of coconut. However, bear in mind that coconuts vary in weight. If you have more than 400 g , do not waste the extra. Once you have grated your coconut weigh it and add the same weight of sugar.
Normally, you would use freshly grated coconut for the nouga fannen but if it is not available where you are, you can substitute it with desiccated coconut, frozen grated coconut or even dried grated coconut . If you use dried grated coconut you will need to rehydrate it with some water before use. Bear in mind though that the end result will be far from what you would get if you were using freshly coarsely-grated coconut. If you are using frozen grated coconut, make sure it is frozen mature coconut and not young coconut. The flesh of the young coconut has a lot of moisture and you will have to experiment with the amount of sugar you use. Young coconut will also give you a different texture.
Please note that food colouring comes in a variety of concentration. Always start with one drop and add more until you get the colour you require.