Reviving Goa’s Saraswat food tradition

DANUSKA DA GAMA

Home chef Shubhra Shankwalker has been slowly taking her love for all things food beyond Goan shores. An ambassador of Gaud Saraswat Brahmin cuisine, her latest outing was in Kolkata at Glenburn Penthouse.

With a history of over 2000 years, the Gaud Saraswat community is said to have its roots on the banks of river Saraswati, and thus we see obvious similarities between the Bengalis and the Goans.

This pop-up meant that Shankwalker wanted to introduce guests to the culinary tradition she is proud of through a five-course sit down meal. With Kokum kadi, to start off, besides wines and a feni cocktail, Shankwalker ensured there was an assortment of homemade pickles of prawn, raw mango and hog plums (ambadde) on the table.

Pickles hold a special place in her heart and family. Shankwalker started an enterprise called 'Aai's' before the pandemic to generate income through selling pickles.

Shankwalker helped her mother deliver these pickles in Goa, but she stepped in and has since been using recipes handed down from her grandmother to keep the culinary tradition of the community alive.

“After my mother didn’t want to continue it, my late mother-in-law persuaded me to take it up, and we had a traceable history of over 200 recipes that would have been forgotten with time,” says the graphic designer by profession.

The menu for the pop-up had to be unique, and with several ingredients from Goa like breadfruit, hog plums, turmeric leaves, masalas, while the fresh produce was easy to source in Kolkata, including fish and prawns.

“Sungtache Dangar, the famous prawn cutlet was followed by a bowl of ‘tomato saar’ – served as a soup before the mains arrived,” she says.

Local and seasonal produce of the monsoon was used. From stuffed mackerels bharile nuste, to aluchi bhaji made of colocasia leaves there was also mango and pineapple curry.

The non-vegetarians got to devour her tisrayche sukhe and a typical prawn curry hooman and chicken xacuti. This was served with Goan rice and puris of rice flour. Patoleos were served for dessert, which was for Shankwalker a twist on Bengal's patishapata.

“At the heart of Gaud Saraswat cuisine lies a deep respect for the quality and freshness of ingredients. One ingredient that holds a special place in this cuisine is ‘hing’ (asafoetida),” says Shankwalker, adding that homemade food can never be commercially made as “every meal takes time and effort”.

Shankwalker in the last few years has hosted several food pop-ups at various restaurants in Goa, including at Bacana in Assagao and Minguel Arcanjo at Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Benaulim, besides hosting one in Bengaluru.

What sets Shubhra apart is her personal connection to the food she prepares. She admits that she didn’t know how to cook when she got married, but her late mother-in-law’s guidance transformed her into the culinary expert she is today.

She also hosts sit-down meals of Gaud Saraswat cuisine at her farm in Camurlim as a way of celebrating the age-old traditions and exquisite flavours and preserve Goa’s culinary heritage.

“Getting into food professionally, was never planned. It was destiny that got me into it. The happiness I see when people savour the food I cook and the love and feedback that I receive, pushes me to carry on doing what I love most now,” she says.

Shankwalker, has made a connect with local farmers and fishermen who she believes in supporting.

“For me it is more about using local, fresh produce and simple ingredients that were used to revive the culinary traditions of this community that are hardly known to a larger population,” Shankwalker says. She sources fresh, local ingredients from Goa’s markets and her own farm in Camurlim.

Many dishes have been forgotten with time, or their original names have been altered.

Very rarely does one get to understand that there is more to Goan food, and that a large community in Goa has food that is niche and needs more love, attention and people to taste and understand the legacy and culinary traditions that have been passed down through generations.

Each dish she prepares is a tribute to her family’s legacy and the rich culinary traditions of the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community.