Goan Food

Hello friends

My name is Bomiyo Gaonkar

I want to share my view on Goan foods

Goan cuisine consists of regional foods popular in Goa, an Indian state located along India's west coast on the shore of the Arabian Sea. Rice, seafood, coconut, vegetables, meat, pork and local spices are some of the main ingredients in Goan cuisine. The area is located in a tropical climate, which means that spices and flavors are intense. Use of kokum is another distinct feature. Goan food is considered incomplete without fish.

The cuisine of Goa originated from its Hindu roots, and was influenced by the 451 years of Portuguese colonialisation and the century of Muslim rule that preceded the Portuguese.^[1] Many Catholic dishes are either similar to or variants of their Portuguese counterparts in both naming or their use of ingredients.

Sea food

The cuisine is mostly seafood-based; the staple foods are rice and fish. Kingfish (vison or visvan) is the most commonly eaten. Other commonly eaten seafood includes pomfret, shark, tuna, and mackerel. Among the shellfish are crabs, prawns, tiger prawns, lobster, squid, and mussels. The food of Goan Christians is heavily influenced by the Portuguese (the use of vinegar, for example, is very prominent).

Introduction of New food

The Portuguese introduced potatoes, tomatoes, pineapples, guavas, and cashews from Brazil to Goa and consequently India. The chili pepper is the most important aspect of Goan cuisine; it was introduced by the Portuguese and became immensely popular as a very important spice for wider Indian cuisine. The Portuguese also introduced beef and pork, meats that were and still are considered a taboo by Hindus of Goa, to converts to Catholicism.^[2]
Hindu cuisine

Hindu cuisine in Goa is mainly pescetarian and lacto-vegetarian. Hindu cuisine is mild, with use of tamarind and kokum for souring, and jaggery for sweetening. It uses spices such as asafoetida, fenugreek, curry leaves, mustard, and urad dal.^[2] Onion and garlic are also used. It also includes vegetables, such as lentils, pumpkins, gourds, bamboo shoots, and roots.The medium of cooking is coconut oil.^[2] Many parts of coastal Karnataka such as Udupi and Dakshina Kannada have adopted the Goan lacto-vegetarian cuisine, whereas few major parts of Uttara Kannada have adopted the pescetarian cuisine.

Source:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goan_cuisine