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Its food magic, the Goan way
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If you are in a mood for some spicy, rich food, the Goan food festival is the place to be
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PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN
SUMPTUOUS SPREAD The Goan culture is reflected in the cuisine
If you are a foodie, the Goan festival is something you will not want to miss out on.
After wooing Coimbatoreans with quintessential Bengali food, The Residency food caravan has now moved West.
Mouth-watering soups, exquisite fish, chicken and pork delicacies and authentic Goan desserts wait to tickle your palate during the 10-day food festival beginning today.
It's vintage Goa at The Pavilion, the 24-hour coffee shop at the hotel, with foot tapping Goan music in the background and colourful waiters serving you steaming fish curry and rice.
If you like to warm up to a meal with soup, try out the green, creamy and rich Caldo Verde spinach-based soup.
You can also go in for the minestrone soup, a blend of baby corn and vegetables with a dash of vinegar.
All soups come in vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions. Moving on to the main course, well it's a non-vegetarian's delight.
The richness of Goan culture and the alluring blend of Portuguese and Indian tradition are reflected in their cuisine too. The dishes come in hard-to-crack Portuguese names, but the taste lingers on for long.
For non-veggies
Three non-vegetarian dishes are served every day and it could be Galina Baffad, a Konkani chicken curry spiced up in coconut milk, or Xacuti de Carneiro, a mutton masala cooked with roasted coconut, or Caffreal, chicken fried with Goan spices.
The Goan fetish for vinegar and kokam (a version of tamarind) is hard to miss in the dishes you savour, be it Ambottik, a tangy fish preparation, or Sorpolet, a vinegar and masala-based pork dish. But there is enough on the menu to lure vegetarians too. Brinjelas, a pakoda-style brinjal fry, can get you all geared up for the rich food to follow.
A meal with rice, Fugad de Repolho (cabbage subzi done the Goan way), black bean daal and sorak, a curry usually made with brinjal or pumpkin, and rounded off with aksal, a reminder of our rasam, a mix of kokam water and pepper, can be a filling experience.
Mergol dequaibos, ladiesfinger fry with tomatoes, is recommended for its lingering tangy taste.
Something likely to leave you craving for more is those rich Goan desserts. Bibinca, a delicacy made of egg and coconut, will leave you digging deeper into the rich layers of light brown cake. Mango Phool, a season special Alphonso dessert and tender coconut soufflé and coconut velvette, are arrayed too, to tempt you further.
So, if you want to dine the Goan way, march into The Pavilion past 7.30 p.m. on weekdays and for lunch on Sunday till the 17th of this month. The buffet is priced at Rs. 325 for adults and Rs. 200 for children.
ANIMA BALAKRISHNAN
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