Ask anyone who visits Goa why they like coming down and chances are that 8 times out of 10, they will mention the food here as one of the reasons. That’s because Goan cuisine, especially the Catholic Goan cuisine is somewhat different from the average Indian fare, not that the cuisine of any one Indian state can be generically described as “Indian fare”
Goa is a former Portuguese colony so it’s not surprising that the local cuisine, most especially the Goan Catholic cooking is heavily influenced by Portuguese cuisine. This means a lot of Goan Catholic food is an interesting fusion of typically non-Indian dishes flavoured with Indian spices and ingredients. It also means that this cuisine tends to lean very heavily in the direction of non-vegetarian cooking, and even quite a few desserts depend very heavily on eggs.
However, it is possible to adapt many of the non-vegetarian Goan preparations to make them vegetarian while still keeping their spice mix or combination much the same. There are also authentic vegetarian versions of non-vegetarian dishes which are routinely cooked in Goan kitchens without meat, fish or eggs.
The Feijoada is one of them. This is typically Portuguese dish which is today found as one of the more popular dishes in most of the former Portuguese colonies including Brazil, Macau, Angola and Mozambique. In fact, Brazil considers this its national dish!
In Portugal, Feijoada is typically cooked with pork and the bean used depends on the part of Portugal where it is cooked and which beans is more commonly available there. So you will find the Portuguese also cooking Feijoada with white beans or kidney beans, and some versions include vegetables as well. So really speaking, you could cook this dish with whatever dried beans you have in your pantry.
In Goa, Feijoada is cooked with black eyed beans which is very easily available locally and comes in two versions, with and without pork. The addition of spices and coconut milk make the Goan Feijoada an absolute delight, creamy and full of flavour.
Feijoada (Goan Black Eyed Beans And Coconut Milk Stew)
(Adapted from 5Spices, 50 Dishes by Ruta Kahate)
Feijoada (Goan Black Eyed Beans And Coconut Milk Stew)
Ingredients
- 1 cup black-eyed peas dried (about 2 to 2 1/4 cups when cooked)
- 2 onions medium sized , minced
- 1/2 tsp garlic finely grated or paste
- xbd tsp ginger minced or paste
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 1/2 tsps coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 3/4 tsp red chilli powder (or to taste)
- 2 tomatoes medium sized , purxe9ed (about 1/2 cup purxe9e)
- 1 cup water (or the liquid in which the beans were cooked , if necessary, to make up 1 cup)
- to taste Salt
- 1/2 tsp jaggery powdered (or sugar)
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 1/2 tsps tamarind lime lemon juice paste or /
- 2 tbsps coriander chopped fresh , to garnish
Instructions
- Soak the black eyed beans for about 6 to 8 hours. Drain the water and pressure cook (or cook by your method of preference) till soft and done but not mushy. A quicker way of cooking the beans without soaking is cover the beans with enough water (about 2 inches above the beans) and adding a very small pinch of baking soda and then pressure cooking the beans. Keep aside.
- Heat the oil in largish saucepan and sautxe9 the onion till it turns golden brown. Turn down the heat to medium, and add the ginger and garlic pastes and sautxe9 for another couple of minutes till the raw smell of garlic disappears. Now add the spice powders and sautxe9 for a couple of minutes.
- Add the purxe9ed tomatoes and cook till soft and it disintegrates, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the black eyed beans, the water and salt. Mix and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat so it simmers. Let the stew simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the coconut milk, and stir well and take the stew off the heat. Do not let the stew boil vigorously after adding the coconut milk or it will split. Add the tamarind paste lime/ lemon juice and mix well. Pour into a serving bowl, garnish with the chopped coriander and serve hot with rice, bread (pao or poee) or chappathis.
Preeti says
Thank you so much for this recipe!! Its so wonderful. I made this once without coconut milk. And today i made it with potatoes, Aubergine and peas, instead of black eyed peas. Even that turned out amazing! Really appreciate you sharing this:)
Aparna Balasubramanian says
You’re welcome Preeti. You can make it without coconut milk and also substitute other dried beans for black eyed beans. Happy the recipe worked for you.