Dishes here
Vada pavA spiced potato fritter in a soft bun with chutney. The city's street snack, and it's best hot from a stall that has a queue.Pav bhajiSpiced mashed vegetables, cooked with butter on a griddle and eaten with soft rolls. Great for a late dinner.Goan fish curryKingfish in a coconut curry, eaten with rice. Have it at lunch, on the main street rather than on the beach.MisalA spicy sprouted bean curry topped with crunchy fried bits and eaten with bread. It's breakfast, and it's hot.Pork vindalooA sharp, vinegary Goan pork curry, far from the British curry-house version. Try it in Panjim.BebincaA layered Goan dessert of coconut and egg. Have it after dinner at an older Goan restaurant.Naan qaliaA slow-cooked soupy mutton curry with turmeric-brushed naan, a flatbread. The city's signature dish, and the one to plan around.SheermalA soft flatbread rich with saffron and ghee (clarified butter), eaten with curries.ThalipeethA Maharashtrian pancake of ground grains and vegetables. A good vegetarian choice.Bombil fryBombay duck, which is actually a soft fish, fried crisp. Pair it with sol kadhi.Fish thaliFried fish, fish curry, rice bhakri (a flatbread) and sol kadhi on one plate. Have it at lunch.PomfretA flat local fish, fried crisp, simmered with kokum and coconut, or grilled in banana leaf. Ask how they're cooking it today.GadbadA local layered ice cream. The right end to a hot walk between beaches.PatrodeColocasia leaves rolled with jaggery and gram flour, then cooked. Sweet, savoury and earthy.South Indian thaliRice, sambar (a lentil and vegetable stew) and small curries, with refills. Have it in town at lunch.Squid sukkaDry, spicy squid cooked with coconut and tamarind. Have it at a seafood place near the beach.Berry pulaoSpiced rice with tart Iranian barberries and chicken or mutton, from Mumbai's Parsi community, Zoroastrians of Persian origin.Mutton rassaA very hot mutton curry in a deep red gravy of dry coconut, garlic and black pepper. Have it with bhakri or rice, away from the gurdwaras.Patodi rassaGram flour rolls simmered in a hot gravy of garlic, chilli and dry coconut, eaten with bhakri at lunch.Shev bhajiCrisp gram flour noodles, called shev, dropped into a thick spicy gravy. Eat it with bread at a dhaba, a roadside eatery.Chicken cafrealChicken marinated in lime and a green chilli sauce, then grilled. Portuguese in origin.Goan fish thaliFish curry, rice, fried fish and small sides on one plate. A lunch that locals actually eat, and the best value in Goa.Rawa fryFish or prawns coated in semolina and fried until crisp. Order it alongside a thali.XacutiA dark coconut curry with roasted spices, made with chicken, fish or crab. Say it sha-koo-tee.BakarwadiA crisp spiced spiral snack, tangy and sweet. Buy a box to take home. People here do it by the kilo.Bun maskaA soft bun with lots of butter, for dipping in Irani chai, the milky tea of Pune's old Persian cafes.Maharashtrian thaliA plate of more than a dozen local dishes, often with shrikhand, a sweet strained yoghurt, and puri, fried bread.