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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsGoa pics thread 1: noms (pic and food porn warning)
So my wife and I went to Goa this weekend. I get now why the Portuguese wanted to keep it (India had to invade it in 1961 to annex it, though everyone who lived there then could stay as residents and keep their Portuguese citizenship). I'm still processing the beach and cathedral pictures, but I thought I would share some food porn I took at the restaurants we ate at.
The first night we ate at the hotel. The main restaurant was an open-flame grill on the beach with tables on the deck by the pool. The view of the Indian Ocean was great but the lighting didn't work with my phone camera, so I got a picture of the pool bar on the other side of us instead:
The drink of the day was the Cuba Libre. They make it strong.
Outdoors, at dusk, in India is asking for mosquitoes to eat you, so they had these smokepots by the table. Worked great.
For starters, I had beer battered squid:
And my wife had tandoori crab claws (they have a fry station and a tandoor somewhere, apparently; we could just see the flame grill):
For mains, I had the seared red snapper with buttered carrots ("carroted butter" would be more accurate):
And my wife had the baked stuffed crab:
That's heavy cream, crab meat, and a little bit of gram flour. Oy.
For dessert, my wife got a crème brûlée with biscotti:
And I had a tiramisu served the coolest way I've ever seen:
The next night we went to a place called "The Quarterdeck", which is basically a similar theory: lots of grilled seafood, outdoor seating:
(That's a casino boat in the background; the bay is full of them and raucous booze cruises full of drunk Russian backpackers)
We got a prawn tikka malai:
Baked stuffed crabs again (much less rich than at the hotel):
A prawn biryani:
And a squid curry:
That bread next to the curry is called "pao", it's a Portuguese bread that's a local specialty. Interesting side note: Portuguese "pao" came into both Goan and Chinese ("bao", as in "long bao" , while the cognate in French, "pain", came into Vietnamese as "banh" (as in "banh mi" . The English "bun" may be a cognate or a borrowing, but its history is obscure, etymology.com tells me.
No trip to Goa would be complete without eating at Mum's Kitchen. We had lunch there twice. It was amazing. The place is on the main beach drag in Panjim (the capital) with a nice privacy screen and cool garden with a koi pond in the front:
The first day, we started with chicken sekhna and fried sardines (they were amazing):
that's garlic mayonnaise for dipping the fried sardines in...
Then we got lamb xacutti:
and chorizo curry:
Holy crap that curry was good.
The second visit, we got prawn peri peri:
Rawa fried mussels (rawa = dredged in gram flower and a certain spice mix):
A chorizo pallau (absolutely incredible -- so smoky):
And... drum roll please... the queen of Goan cuisine; the inimitable; the one and only
vindaloo:
Vesuvian. Hadean. Infernal. Lip-numbing but not taste-deadening. The pork was tender, the flavor of the chilies came through the heat, and the sauce was rich without being glutinous; the fat did not separate from the tomato puree.
(Incidentally, although "aloo" is Hindi for "potato", "vindaloo" is etymologically unrelated, and contains no potatoes -- though many Indian restaurants in the US put potatoes in because people get confused otherwise. The word comes from the Portuguese "vin d'alho", "vinegar and olive oil", which is the base of the sauce. A true vindalho/vindaloo is pork, vinegar, tomato puree, olive oil, and lots and lots of chilies -- a Portuguese sailor's hash that became popular with the locals. Interestingly, potatoes, tomatoes, and chilies are all new world food, so any Indian dish containing them -- and that's quite a few -- is a result of European contact)
To sop it up we used fresh pao:
and we finished with two typical Goan desserts (yes, at lunch -- sue me), flan and bebinca:
Damn, that was good food...
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)Mmmmm... That looks amazing.
Particularly the curry.
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)Swoon...
Those are dishes I have never seen before. Tandoori crab? And chorizo curry?? MUST. HAVE. NOW.
My father was from Delhi, but I have never seen so many amazing seafood dishes or the chorizo dishes. I will have to look them up immediately and see what I can do to recreate them. But I must admit, I am not advanced as I would like to be at the Indian method of cooking. It is so time-consuming, I often just whimp out and go to one of our favorite restaurants.
How are the beaches? We were planning on diving the Maldives and I was wanting to take a detour to Sri Lanka or Goa. Haven't decided, but you pictures are swinging that direction. Thanks for sharing!
Recursion
(56,582 posts)And, yeah, this definitely makes me want to add some Goan dishes to my repertoire.
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)If you find the recipe for the chorizo curry, I would love to see it. I was able to find just a few for the chorizo palau, which seem like the quality of the chorizo would make a huge difference. I wonder if the chorizo in Goa is a little different or straight up Portugese? It looks very straight forward and deee-licious. But I can't find the curry, and the sauce in your picture looks like you could bathe in it.
More food porn too, please!
Recursion
(56,582 posts)That may do better.
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)I think you will soon have a following and will have to add videos of your trip so we can all live vicariously through you. And more food porn!
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)Look at all That Food ... Gorgeous Dishes
Galileo126
(2,016 posts)Loving the food porn!
Yep - Goa is the place for Vindaloo. Indian and Portuguese fusion rocks.
Cool pic posting!
adirondacker
(2,921 posts)You write some truly enjoyable posts. I like your taste in food btw!
PassingFair
(22,434 posts)shit storm of anti-India bigotry that blows through here every time
a sensational crime story out of India makes its way here.
Your gentle posts prove that there is good everywhere.
Thanks you!
GoCubsGo
(32,099 posts)Palak paneer being the other. I'm really jealous, both that you got to visit Goa, and because you got to eat authentic vindaloo there.
DiverDave
(4,891 posts)Water/Ocean?
Yes food is important but Goa is THE beach.
I am jealous. I kid with the Indian dude at the store that if I win the lottery we are going to GOA
Recursion
(56,582 posts)DiverDave
(4,891 posts)I'm MORE jealous.