bakedbean

I keep reading about the Egg and Chips, Chicken Masala...that's British grub uh? If I were coming to Goa what would I enjoy? I love spicy food, spicy southern Indian food. Would I be disappointed?

mikelincs

come on people, 'go on, go on, go on' as someone once said.

msj5

If you ate where the locals eat you would not be disappointed.

I personaly do not enjoy the Goan dishes as mainly inspired by the Portugese and tooooo spicey for me .

But the Thalis are good and a good selection of dishes from all over India if you are selective where you eat.

noni

Egg masala - one of my favourites. but only from Bayview Shack. Yum Yum.
Fish dishes are also fantastic in Goa. But not fish curry and rice especially what the villagers eat.

Tina1

If you happened to go with Noni, keep upwind of her if she has had her egg masala!!!

GermanFool

You most definitely wouldn't.
Like MsJ5 said, you'll find a good selection of dishes from all over India, be it Tandoori, Biryani, Dosa, Idli, whatever.
Business Hotels in the cities usually serve the typical North Indian and Goan stuff, whereas purely vegetarian restaurants tend to have the best South Indian.
(Not at every corner, but easy enough to find, anyway. If you go, I'll gladly PM you a list of my favourites in North Goa.)

Local Goan cuisine can be absolutely delicious, but is really hot. It's mainly based on coconut and fiery hot red chili powder.
Some dishes have a certain portuguese colonial "touch", especially the cuisine of the roman catholic minority. But those are usually just as spicy...

Some examples:

• Sorpotel - a fiery hot stew made from a whole pig, including the blood and offal, thinly chopped up and boiled for days with spices, wine (nowadays mostly vinegar), garlic and a lot of pepper, served with coconut bread
• Vindaloo - I guess you know that one; what most people don't know is that this is a classic Goan thing from colonial time (the word is derived from "vinho e alho", wine and garlic.)
  Catholics usually use beef, Hindus use chicken or vegetables.
• Kingfish/Pomfret Recheado - a whole fish stuffed with - you guessed it - garam massala and herbs

Some of my favourites:
Squid (or prawns) in spicy coconut gravy with rice
Mussels coated with a mix of semolina and hot spices, deep fried.

Dammit I'm getting hungry now...

bakedbean

Thanks all, and especially Germanfool. That is encouraging and also answers something that has puzzled me.

In Singapore and some parts of Malaysia (Malacca in particular, but some in Penang) you can find what is described here as Eurasian cuisine. The Eurasians are, by definition, a mixture of races, but quite often Portuguese-Indian in heritage and some of these dishes sure sound familiar... and yeh, this is my kinda food Recheado...I've seen that before.

I don't mind Northern Indian foods but find them a bit bland sometimes. I think my tastebuds probably got shot to pieces when I lived in Thailand

OK....I shall remember to look back at this thread and ask Germanfool some recommendations if I ever make the trip. I just might

bakedbean

I shall definitely bear that in mind

GoanPlaces

For South Indian veg food you cannot go wrong eating at a branch of Navtara. They have branches in Panjim, Mapusa, Povorim and Calangute now. It's fast food though and not a place to have a sit-down meal with friends and chat & drink for ages (they only serve soft drinks). But great if you're hungry and prices are OK.

johnny five

Hey Julia, how ya doin?

So nice to see you back after all this time


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ex reg

Rick Stein has just finished his series about Indian food.
I thought I saw them all but don't remember anything on Goa.

Of course in Malacca there's the Portuguese settlement. We've eaten there once iirc but it wasn't very good, mainly seafood except for the chicken piri piri???
Can't remember anywhere in Penang and particularly in Singapore anything really being described as Eurasian. Maybe devil curry, the missus tells me Joo Chiat has one Eurasian place.

johnny five

Just a personal take on actual "Goan" food.

Most of it overly dosed with chilly.

Other softer spices used to such excess that they become harsh.

Many so called "typical" Goan dishes dominated by one spice, at the expense of all others.

Hindu food much more pleasant than harsh, acidic, fiery Catholic food.

Xacuti very pleasant, if the ridiculous amounts of chillies added is controlled, but this applies to a lot of Goan cooking.

Overall, compared to the wonderful flavours experienced in other Asian cuisines., traditional Goan cuisine is actually pretty poor, and best avoided, especially in local joints where it is cooked for the Goans.

Oh yes....... Rechad/Rechado just about the most destructive thing to do to a beautiful, freshly caught flavoursome fish. You could apply that oppressive masala to next doors cat that you ran over last week and it would taste the same

GoanPlaces

Yeah I'm doing great - it's now nearly 4 years since I moved to Goa! Don't as yet have any inclination to move back to the UK hahaha!

bakedbean

GermanFool seems to like the cuisine. I imagine it depends what you're used to. I'm used to fiery hot food and like it. Local Penang food can be very spicy.

johnny five

What was the first line of my post?

"Just a personal take on actual "Goan" food."

What I am used to is irrelevant, I cook Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Chinese and of course, Indian of all types, but as I said in my post

"Hindu food much more pleasant than harsh, acidic, fiery Catholic food."

Maybe its best to try it before making judgements?


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