Note: This article is a humble effort to document India’s diverse regional cuisines. In pursuit of this, we may refer to various regional, religious, and caste communities to celebrate their unique culinary heritage. Please note that our intent here is to celebrate everyone’s heritage and learn from it—never to reinforce hierarchies or exclusion.
The traditional food of any region evokes nostalgia for those who have grown up with it. But the Goan Saraswat cuisine is unique in that it feels like a warm hug in spite of many of us being strangers to it. The names are different, the cooking ingredients are unique, and yet the first taste of any GSB dish feels like it rings a strange bell of nostalgia somewhere deep inside.
In short, the Goan Saraswat cuisine is novel, unique— and yet— strangely familiar.
Goan Saraswat cuisine is one of the major cuisines of Goa, cooked by the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community of the state. Their food is simple, minimalistic and healthy. In fact, it is quite surprising that Saraswat food has gone unnoticed by the larger masses for so long, given that it is exactly what the urban population looks for in their everyday meals. It is delicious, and yet uses minimal spices and oils. And best of all, it is quick to cook.
Let’s take a deeper look at this very interesting cuisine from the Konkan belt of Western India.
A Legacy of Adaptation
The story behind the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community— creators of the Saraswat cuisine— is perhaps as interesting as the food itself.
Gaud Saraswat Brahmin are one of the few fish-eating brahmin communities in India. The reason behind this curious deviation from traditional 100% vegetarian brahmin communities is that they trace their lineage to the Saraswati river system in North India. When the river started drying up and agriculture became a problem, the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin were allowed to eat fish as a means of sustenance.
Over decades, as the river ecosystem depleted further, they moved towards the Konkan area of Goa and settled there. This became the centre of the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community.
Subsequent historical events led many Gaud Saraswat Brahmin families to relocate in the nearby regions. Some went northward in the Sawantwadi region of neighbouring parts of Maharashtra. Many went south towards the coastal areas of Karwar of North Karnataka. Some went deeper south to the coastal areas of Kerala.
Today, the older generation of the Saraswat Brahmin population lives mostly along the coastal areas of these four states.
The story of the community has been of shifting and adaptability. As we will see, this will also be true of the Saraswat cuisine as it across Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala, reflecting in the choices of souring agents, oils, spice levels— quietly adapting a historical food tradition to newer circumstances and surroundings.
Goan Saraswat Cuisine- Simple And Nourishing
Migration may change the ingredients of a food culture, but what remains steadfast and immutable is the food philosophy of the culture. The philosophy of Goan Saraswat cuisine is simple— food is sacred. It is offered to deities in the form of naivedya. Hence, it is simple food, with each recipe quietly celebrating seasonal fresh ingredients and cooking them minimally to elevate their natural taste. Food is meant to nourish, not fill, and the ingredients of each dish are chosen carefully to meet its nourishment goals.
The basic mantra is freshness. Be it in their choice of vegetables used, which change through the year according to the seasonal cycle, or in the fact that most masalas are freshly made. Even in terms of cooking technique, in Goan Saraswat cuisine, vegetables are not overcooked and always retain some of their crunch.
The Goan Saraswat cuisine dishes are not overly spicy, and mostly satvik and cooling in nature. The use of heating ingredients like garlic, onion, etc. are minimal.
Common Ingredients & Taste Pallete of the Goan Saraswat cuisine
I was thinking of how to describe the taste of Saraswat cuisine, and the only way it can be described is as petrichor– the scent of rain falling on Earth. It is equal parts earthy, fresh and achingly familiar. It gets its earthiness from the basic spices it uses- asafoetida, mustard seeds, curry leaves, coriander seeds and red or green chillies. The freshness is from the cooking technique and garnishing of fresh grated coconut to each dish.
The major taste profile of the Saraswat cuisine is savoury and carefully balanced sourness and sweetness. This is further lent a layer of complexity with subtle undertone of spice from chillies, and in some dishes bitterness from fenugreek seeds.
Coconut is the heart of the Goan Saraswat cuisine. It is widely used both as a base and as fresh garnish to various dishes of the cuisine. As a base, it is ground with various spices to lend flavour, richness and body to the dish. And as a garnish, it lends both freshness as well as a hint of delightful sweetness to the dish.
Common spices and flavour agents used in Saraswat food are asafoetida, mustard seeds, curry leaves and red and green chillies. Note how subtle and earthy each of these key spices are— dictating the overall calm and subtlety of the cuisine. In heavier dishes, coriander seeds, black pepper and other ingredients like urad dal may also be used.
India has a rich variety of souring agents, varying region to region based on local agricultural availability. In Goan Saraswat cuisine, the souring agent is mostly kokum or tamarind, the former being a hyperlocal produce of Western India.
The sweetening agent in the Saraswat cuisine is jaggery, Coconut jaggery is another speciality of the Goan region. It is made from slow simmering of coconut palm sap and has a unique smoky flavour and dark color.
Similarly, the oil typically used in the Goan Saraswat cuisine is peanut oil. However, just as we saw in the form of souring agents and sweeteners, the choice of oil varies regionally, with Gaud Saraswat Brahmin families in Karnataka preferring coconut oil.
Common vegetables used in Saraswat food are ladyfingers, radish, jackfruit, beans, brinjals, raw banana and gourds including bitter gourd, ridge gourd, pumpkins, ivy gourd. The staple carbohydrate is rice. Amongst lentils, the lighter moong dal and tur dal are more commonly made, while urad dal is used to make the dosa-like polos and related breakfast breads. In heavier dishes, dried peas, chickpeas and white beans are used.
Seafood is widely used in various dishes made of mackerel, mori (shark), prawns, clams are prepared.
Typical Goan Saraswat Cuisine Thali
The typical Goan Saraswat cuisine thali has a curry, a dry accompaniment, rice and a condiment on the side. Curries can be both everyday dals or vegetarian or seafood gravies. Dry accompaniments range from simple stir-fried vegetables to crispy phodis or kurdais. Condiments range from fresh pickles and chutneys to the unique kismoor. Let’s take a look at each component of the Goan Saraswat cuisine platter in detail:
Dals
The most common dals made in Saraswat cuisine are the lighter ones like tur dal and moong dal. Urad dal is used more as a base and flavouring agent, as well as in breakfast polos. Other legumes like black chickpeas, white beans, etc. are cooked as part of richer curries or drier sides like usli and bhajis.
Amongst dals served in a typical Saraswat cuisine lunch or dinner, they vary from simple, everyday dals like saaru or dalithoy to more festive ones with a richer base like mooga gathi. Let’s take a deeper look at this variety of GSB dal preparations:
1. Saaru
The simplest way dal is served in Saraswat cuisine main course is as a thin dal stock in the form of saaru. We will read more details of this in the gravies section below.
2. Dalithoy
Dalithoy is one of the most iconic dishes of the Goan Saraswat cuisine, and often what describes home for them. It is a smooth and mild dal, most often tur dal, cooked with green chillies, turmeric, asafoetida and salt and then tempered with mustard seeds, curry leaves and red chilies. It is the ultimate comfort food and served with rice and dry accompaniments on the side.
3. Mooga Gashi
Richer dals, like mooga gashi, with more complex flavouring are made with a base of coconut and spices for special occasions. As with saaru, these are more curries than dal, and are covered in the respective section.
Gravies
There are numerous gravy types in the Goan Saraswat cuisine, varying in the complexity and base masalas to their thickness. The base is usually (although not always) coconut and the sweetness and tartness is balanced by jaggery and tamarind respectively.
1. Saaru
My favourite of all the dals of the Saraswat food is the lightest of them all, the broth-like saaru. Somewhat similar to the rasams of the south, the simplicity of the saarus summarises the beauty of this cuisine. Each saaru celebrates one key taste, be it the tartness of the tomato saaru— a tomato broth perfectly balancing tartness of tamarind with the sweetness of jaggery or the pepperiness of the jeere meere saaru— a thin broth of arhar dal with a phanna of ground cumin and pepper along with curry leaves, chilli and mustard seeds.
2. Valval
Valval is the lightest of all Saraswat cuisine curries. It is a thin curry made of fresh coconut milk, with at least four vegetables in it- including beans, pumpkin, gourds, etc. It has a light tempering of mustard seeds, red chilli and curry leaves and is one of the most soothing curries to have with rice, perfect for a hot summer lunch.
3. Saasav
Another interesting dish of the Saraswat cuisine is the saasav, a mustard-based gravy which is equal parts tangy, spicy and sweet. The base masala consists of fresh coconut ground with chillies, fenugreek seeds and, true to its name, roasted mustard seeds. The hero ingredient of the dish is mostly a fruit including the small ghonta mangoes of Goa, pineapples or hog plums, although some variants include vegetables as well.
4. Uddamethi
Goan Saraswat cuisine is famous for balancing all flavours in its dishes, and this dish is a prime example of it. Uddamethi is a combination of udda = urad dal, and methi = fenugreek seeds, and is a medicinal dish. The base gravy is made of ground coconut and with a powdered masala made of roasted rice, urad dal, coriander seeds, pepper and fenugreek seeds. Tamarind and jaggery are added to add more complexity to the flavours. The resultant dish is well-balanced. The coconut lends its richness and sweetness, the roasted rice and coriander seeds introduce earthiness and roasted urad dal adds umami flavours. The pepper adds an undercurrent of spice. But the best complimentary flavours are of the sweetness of jaggery which elevates the slight bitterness of fenugreek seeds, while the sourness of tamarind cuts through it.
5. Hooman
Hooman means fish curry in Konkani. It is a mild curry of the Goan Saraswat cuisine made a ground paste of coconut, coriander seeds, tamarind, red chillies and is one of the most soothing means one can have with rice. It is made with both prawns as well as fish, with accompanying vegetables like drumsticks, radish, and okra.
6. Ambat
Ambat means sour in Konkani. It is a mildly spiced coconut curry with a distinct tanginess from tamarind or kokum. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions in the Goan Saraswat cuisine are made with vegetables like raw banana or drumsticks and prawns, respectively.
7. Gathi
Gathi is a thick gravy from the Goan Saraswat cuisine, typically made with cooked legumes like sprouted moong and white peas, or vegetables like yam and ash gourd. The gravy itself is made of a ground mixture of fresh coconut, red chillies, coriander seeds, tamarind and jaggery, and has an overall tangy profile.
8. Randai
Randai is another thick and rich coconut-based curry usually made for special occasions like weddings and festivals. It has more complex flavours than usual Saraswat food because of the addition of coriander seeds, urad dal and dried red chillies. Tamarind or kokum are added for tartness with the basic tempering of curry leaves and mustard seeds. Heavier vegetables like yam, jackfruit seeds, raw banana and colocasia steams are the hero ingredients of the dish.
Sides
1. Upkari
Upkari are everyday vegetable stir fries— tempered with mild spices and garnished with fresh coconut— served as accompaniments to rice and curries. In most cases most vegetables like potato are tempered with some variant of the typical Saraswat cuisine tempering, but I love the additional concept of adding some type of protein and crunch to the vegetables, in the form of cashewnuts in tendli and cashewnut upkari which has a subtle tempering of urad dal, mustard seeds, curry leaves and red chillies, or the bhendi and peanuts upkari.
2. Sukke
Sukke are a more complex accompaniment made of seafood like the famous Goan clams or vegetables like drumsticks with a spicier coconut-based coating. These are stir fried in a thick coconut paste with spices like coriander seeds and red chilli. In the otherwise simple Goan Saraswat cuisine, sukke dishes are quite often relatively celebratory due to their more intense taste.
3. Bhaji and Usli
Bhaji and usli are also stir-fried dishes. While the former is a broader term including vegetables like potato as well as lentils, usli usually consists of a dry preparation of stir-fried lentils like moong dal and yellow peas. Amongst the bhajis, tambdi bhaji made with red amaranth leaves is one of the most famous preparations.
4. Phodi
Phodi are my favourite find from the Goan Saraswat cuisine. These are healthier versions of the north-Indian pakoras, where slices of vegetables, or seafood are coated with mild masala, rice flour and then semolina. The surprise here is that this crunchy accompaniment is then shallow fried and not deep fried! Perfect crunch for the health conscious!
5. Dangar
Dangar is another interesting dish from the Saraswat cuisine. These are cutlets, but are pan-fried. Spiced vegetables like bottlegourd or seafood like fish are mashed and bound by rice flour or besan. They are then covered with semolina like the phodi, and pan fried.
Rice
Traditionally, rice is the main carbohydrate in Goan Saraswat cuisine. A local variant called Ukde chawal is typically served in Gaud Saraswat Brahmin households.
Condiments
Given the overall subtlety of the cuisine, condiments add a lovely dash of flavour and often crunch to the Goan Saraswat cuisine thali.
1. Lonche
Lonche are pickles made of fresh vegetables and fruits, including raw mangoes, tendlis, etc.
2. Chutneys
There are numerous chutneys in the Goan Saraswat cuisine, and are a must-have accompaniment during meals, including hinga chutney made of asafoetida.
3. Sun-dried Condiments
While some condiments are freshly made, some are made especially for the monsoon months when the fish spawning season is ongoing and fishing is traditionally restricted. In preparation of this season, seafood and other preparations are sun dried in the summer sun and stored for later use.
a. Kismoor
Amongst these are dried prawns, which are used in Kismoor – a famous dry condiment of the Goan Saraswat cuisine, made of coconut and dried prawns. It adds a dash of umami and protein to the meals, especially in monsoon months.
b. Kurdai
Another popular sundried preparation and an iconic dish of the Saraswat cuisine is kurdai – string papads made of rice or wheat and served with the usual meals of rice, dal and vegetables. Rice flour is cooked, pressed through special tools and then dried in the sun to make kurdai, and this process is often a nostalgic one full of childhood memories and family associations.
Beverages
Sol kadhi is the main beverage of the Goan Saraswat cuisine. A soothing coolant, the pink beverage is typically made of creamy coconut milk and kokum. A variety of herbs and spices are added to make different varieties of sol kadhi. The variants can be sweet, spicy, sour, and with or without coconut milk.
Breakfast
Breakfasts of the Goan Saraswat cuisine are varied and yet stay true to the basic philosophy of food. The breakfast is light, nutritious and easy to make. The main dish types are a mind-boggling variety of phova (poha or flattened rice), polo (fermented or non-fermented dosa or cheela) and my favourite, the sweet and soothing surnali. Each is served with an accompanying bhajji or upkari or a chutney. Another option is uppit, which is the Goan variant of upma.
1. Phova
The thin variety of poha is used in the Goan Saraswat cuisine, and sometimes the red rice variety as well. The most interesting recipe I have tried is the phova chutney where a handful of spices like red chilli, pepper, cumin and coriander are roughly ground and mixed with fresh grated coconut and salt. The thin poha is then mashed with this mixture where it absorbs the moisture of the coconut and flavours of the spices. Accompanied perfectly with stir fried moong sprouts, this breakfast combination is equal parts unique and nutritious.
The same poha can also be served as a simple stir fry, in the form of poha phanna or poha usli, where it is first quickly washed and then tempered with the usual Saraswat cuisine spices and garnished with fresh coconut.
Other variations include flattened rice with milk, coconut milk, curd, buttermilk, etc. Some of these are sweet while others are savoury.
2. Polo
Polo of Saraswat cuisine are similar to south Indian Dosas or north Indian cheelas. These are thin pancakes of fermented or unfermented batters of a combination of rice, urad dal and flattened rice. Sometimes puffed rice, wheat and other ingredients may also be used. Spices, jaggery or vegetables are added to the batter to concoct an endless variety of polos.
Adsara polo is an interesting polo in that it is a pepper-flavoured dosa. Taak polo made of buttermilk served in pudina chutney is another great option. Sometimes vegetables can also be added to the polo, like the sanna polo with cabbage and onions. However my favourite is the sweet and soothing surnali, a soft rice and coconut pancake with the tanginess of buttermilk, the sweetness of jaggery. Its beautiful caramel color, crispy bottom and pillowy interior is a thing of beauty by itself.
Desserts
Desserts of the Goan Saraswat cuisine are also much healthier compared to their counterparts in other parts of the country. Major ingredients and flavour profile is of rice, jaggery and coconut, sometimes with banana and cardamom. Since coconut milk is used in most preparations instead of dairy milk, the sweets are quite a blessing for the lactose-intolerant! Additionally, the desserts are mostly cooked on a stove or steamed in leaves, and use minimal amounts of oil.
The combination of rice, jaggery and coconut is the centrepiece of Goan Saraswat cuisine desserts. The rice can be in the form of steamed rice flour crepes called patoli which are filled with grated coconut and jaggery. It can be in the form of rice noodles called shevai and served with godda rasa which is a coconut and jaggery syrup. It can be in the form of thin dosas called panpolos dipped in coconut milk or banana-jaggery syrup. Or even in the form of surnali, the pillowy pancake made of rice, coconut and jaggery and served with ghee or butter.
Godshe are kheers or payasams made with coconut milk and jaggery. The most famous type is madgane, which is a rich payasam made with chana dal, jaggery, coconut milk and cardamom.
Dhondas are baked or steamed cakes made of semolina, coconut, jaggery, cardamom and surprise, surprise, cucumber! It has a delectable sweet, sticky and dense texture, like that of a particularly rich cake, but without the heaviness.
The Cuisine We Need
With its various health benefits and quick cooking time, Goan Saraswat cuisine is quite possibly the food we all need. With urban populations constantly on the lookout for fresh, preservative-free food which is less spicy and oily, Saraswat food is a perfect fit! I do hope this article contributes a little to more people experimenting with this cuisine and falling in love with its flavours and experimenting with its healthier ways of cooking. The Saraswat cuisine teaches us that crunchy snacks need not always be fried and desserts need not always be laden with refined flours and sugars.
