Goa kitchen proud

Farmers’ markets abound, selling produce, and products like juices, wines, vinegars, jams and candy. One of the highlights is the mangoes, Goa boasts more than 40 varieties along with jackfruit and kokum (the berries, used as a souring agent, also go into the summer drink, sol kadi). 

Goa Farmers Market in Margao (the next edition will be in 2019 September), it had sold local honey, cold pressed coconut oil, home made Goan sweets and pickles.

If you missed the Margao market, head to the Ambeachem (Mango) Fest, on May 14 at Nestor’s Farm, Valpoi. “You can enjoy Goan food with mango curry, walk among the groves and learn how to make mango grafts,” says Marius Fernandes, the organiser.

Before the rains

The weekly Friday market at Mapusa is popular among locals, with its varieties of tamarind, whole spices and chillies “I used to regularly visit the Mapusa market to  buys rare products like kokum butter (a healthy substitute for oil) here.

The biggest fair for provisions, however, is held in Margao, during the Feast of the Holy Spirit. Usually held 50 days after Easter (on June 9 this year), it is known for its lentils, sausages, condiments It is also the place for spicy balchao and rechado masala.

Another highlight is the annual Vasant Puja, held in the southern taluk of Canacona. “The meal [served] celebrates the diversity of food available at this time of the year. It comprises fruits like mango, jackfruit and pineapple, served with boiled grams. You wash it all down with a refreshing drink called panak, made with lime or mango juice, jaggery and pepper. It is quite the crowd puller,” says Om Prabhugaonkar, a local.

Working up an appetite

The summer season has its special dishes. Mangoes are used in pickles, jams and sasav — a “sweet-sour dish made from coconut, jaggery and ghotta (raw wild mangoes),” says caterer Anjana Amonkar. “There’s also a gravy dish made from ghotta called uddamethi,” she adds. Tender jackfruit is another favourite. . We also make a chutney, sushel, flavoured with charcoal. Its seeds are stored and added to leafy vegetables,” she says.

mango leather, or mango saath, where the pulp is sun-dried, layer by layer. A similar recipe is prepared using jackfruit pulp. And finally, there are the chips. Besides jackfruit, tubers like sweet potatoes (locally known as kanga) are deep-fried. “My favourite is mana, sweet potato chips fried in coconut oil. It is the best rainy day snack,”