Fov, the Breakfast Staple of a Goan Diwali

Joanna Lobo writes about how the humble poha finds varied forms in Goa’s Diwali celebrations.

She made the best tikshe fov. 

It was crunchy, with blobs of different shapes, each bite revealing different flavour: sticky jaggery, a sharp bite from ginger and chillies, warming sesame seeds and crunchy chana dal, and peanuts. Together, they created a symphony. 

The thing tying it all together, the master conductor if you may, is the humble fov (poha in Konkani). 

Poha is flattened rice: rice that has been de-husked, flattened and dried into flakes. It’s one of the all-rounders of the Indian kitchen: eaten for breakfast, dinner, as a snack, as dessert, or in place of rice.  It is an important part of life for many in India, including Goa. Here, people consume it in various forms, paired with different ingredients, and on festive occasions.

Growing up, I ate fov only on Diwali, when our Hindu friends and neighbours sent it home as part of their faral: the collection of savoury and sweet snacks. In college, I got a closer look at fov. My friend’s mother, an excellent cook known for her crab curry and Diwali fov, among other things, introduced me to its many varieties. I learned about batat fov (made with potatoes), doodhache (with milk), taakache (with tempered buttermilk), dahyache (tempered curd), kadhyentle (coconut milk with kokum), and more. 

It’s at Diwali that Goan fov truly gets its place in the sun. 

“It is the highlight of the day,” says Tanavi Madkaikar Raicar, food blogger at Bonggong.com. “When you call someone home for Diwali, you don’t say come home for Diwali. We actually say, ‘Fov khavpak yo aamger’ (Come home to eat some fov).” 

Batat fov

Image credit: Rupal Bhatikar

The importance of eating fov lies in the belief that this was one of lord Krishna’s favourite foods. “The story goes that during a visit, Sudama gifted his friend, lord Krishna, some poha since that was all he could afford. Krishna loved it and said it was his favourite food. So, when Krishna defeated Narkasura and returned home victorious, everyone made him some poha to celebrate,” explains food blogger, Raksha Kamat or Raksha’s Kitchen. “On Diwali, we also make fov in celebration.” 

Though every family makes their own variety, two types are common: batat fov, which is a mildly spicy and made with boiled potato, coconut, green chilli and fresh coriander; and a sweet fov, typically rossantlem fov made with coconut milk and jaggery (and sometimes infused with turmeric leaves). 

The varieties are equally delicious: kalayle or god fov: mixed (by hand) with coconut, jaggery, and some cardamom; kadyetle fov: with coconut milk, kokum and green chilli; shikarnem: with coconut milk, jaggery and muskmelon; and taakantle fov: with buttermilk. 

In food blogger Tanavi  Madkaikar Raicar’s home, they also make kitkitaille fov, by adding all the leftover fov to a coconut milk and jaggery mixture and leaving it to soak overnight. This is eaten the morning after Diwali. They also make bhakri of the kitkitayille fov. “Besides these fresh preparations, we also make other fov including chuwdo (puffed rice spiced with turmeric and cumin to make a mixture/snack with cashews, coconut pieces, curry leaves and nuts), godh or sakre fov (chiwda made with sugar syrup), and tikshe fov (a snack made with sticky jaggery), served with other faral on Diwali.” 

Fov is eaten at breakfast, after the morning pooja. “We believe in feeding some of what we prepare to our ancestors. We place some of the prepared fov outside,” says Assavri Kulkarni, a commercial photographer and author who promotes sustainable eating on Assavri’s Kitchen — Goa. 

“For vhadli Diwali or Tulsi lagin, dry fov, sugarcane pieces, raw tamarind pieces, amla pieces, coconut pieces, are all mixed and thrown on top of the Tulsi plant and usually kids try to catch it. The remaining fov is then distributed as prasad,” adds Raicar. In addition, sakre fov is sometimes offered on his day. 

The Diwali breakfast doesn’t include just fov. By the side is chana usal (a lightly spiced curry made of white peas), and ambadyachem karam (a sweet-sour dry preparation made with hog plum). “Because we have such a heavy breakfast, our lunch is typically tival — ajwain, kokum, jeera ground in coconut and made into a thin liquid, eaten with roasted sukko bangdo (dried mackerel) and rice. Tival works as an instant digestive,” adds Kulkarni. 

Godanche fov
Image credit: Raksha Kamat

Another reason fov is used has to do with rice being  Goa’s main crop. Diwali coincides with the end of the harvest season in Goa and with new rice in abundance, it is thus consumed in different forms. There are two main varieties of fov, hand pounded locally: with red fibre bran (unpolished/ukde) and the white one (polished). The thickness varies, too. 

“It is only in Goa where poha is made so much on Diwali,” says Kulkarni. She recalls her childhood Diwali mornings spent grating coconuts so her grandmother could make five kilos of rossantlem fov. “We would take plates of fov and distribute to all the Catholic neighbours.”

I’ve tried a few of Goa’s fov preparations, but tikshe fov remains a favourite. It’s the memory of eating the sticky sweet snack on Diwali, and revelling in the comfort of finding people who will bring you bags of goodies. 

MANORATHI MADKAIKAR’S RECIPE FOR TIKSHE FOV

Ingredients
2/3rd cup thick flat rice or fov
½ cup roasted chana dal
½ cup roasted and peeled peanuts
¼ cup sesame seeds
½ cup dry desiccated coconut
½ tsp salt 
½ tsp turmeric
¼  kilo chikkiche godh or sticky jaggery
¼ teaspoon methi or fenugreek seeds
½ teaspoon black pepper corns
10 dried red chilies
3 green chilies
5 gm raw asafoetida
2 cups oil for frying
Juice of half a lime 

Method
Heat oil. Once hot add the fov and fry till puffed.
Remove on a paper towel to soak extra oil.
In a pan heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the dry red chilies, then the black pepper corn, methi, and asafoetida. Mix this with a quarter cup water to make into a fine paste.
In a vessel, heat a tablespoon oil and add the green chillies. Fry till slightly brown.
Reduce the flame to a simmer. Add in the jaggery and stir occasionally.
Once all the jaggery has melted, add in the ground masala paste.
Add turmeric and salt and cook for 20-30 minutes till it becomes a sticky paste.
To test if it’s ready, add a few drops into a plate of water — the jaggery should form a ball and not dissolve in the water.
Add juice of half a lemon, and dry desiccated coconut. Cook for a few minutes.
Add in the sesame seeds, roasted chana dal and roasted peanuts.
Finally, add the puffed rice. Mix well. Let it cool and store in an airtight container. It will stay for a month. 

Joanna Lobo is an independent journalist from Goa who enjoys writing about food, her Goan heritage, the freelance life, and other things that make her happy. Follow her on @thatdoggonelady.

This feature is part of The Beautiful Indian Kitchen campaign, a a year-long celebration of the Indian kitchen and its various facets — both traditional and modern.

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