Diwali 2024: Fantastic 'fov' and where to find it in Goa
Summary
In Goa, fov or flattened rice is mixed with different ingredients for a variety of festive dishes during DiwaliThere’s a ferocious, well-built man who makes an appearance once a year in Goa. Consider him a tourist — here for a short amount of time, but better behaved. He is armed, actually dangerous. He becomes the focus of attention one night in the year, taking on the role of Narkasura, believed to be a demon king. Legend has it that Narkasura terrorised people, especially women, and were defeated by lord Krishna and his wife Satyabhama. To celebrate this freedom from terror and the victory of good over evil, Goans burn effigies of Narkasura on the night before Diwali.
This is just one of the unusual ways in which Goa celebrates Diwali. Another, sweeter, tradition has to do with that ubiquitous ingredient, fov (flattened rice).
Growing up, us children would eagerly wait for Diwali so we could visit our Hindu neighbours and eat faraal (an assortment of sweet and savoury snacks). It was an overflowing festive tray with diamond shaped shankarpali, crescent moon neuris, concentric chaklis, round sugar-dusted fenori, and laddoos.
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A favourite was the fov, flattened or beaten rice mixed with different ingredients to make ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ dishes. The number of dishes vary but some families make seven types as seven is considered an auspicious number. "These include rossantle fov (with coconut milk), takantle fov (with buttermilk), dahyantle fov (with curd), batat fov (with potatoes), kalaile fov (with jaggery, and ginger) and kurkurit fov (deep fried fov with coconut, jaggery and chillies)," says Shubhra Shankwalker, home chef and founder of Aai’s catering service. There’s also tikshe fov—a sticky, caramel-like chiwda made with jaggery, ginger, coconut, nuts, sesame seeds, chana dal, and puffed rice.
The fov is usually eaten at breakfast or at brunch, post the morning rituals. The main ones are rossantle fov and dahyantle fov. “The fov made with curd is special because lord Krishna likes dahi. We make it with sugar, salt, and green chillies," says homemaker Varsha Pradip Joshi.
Fov is a Diwali favourite because it is believed to also be one of lord Krishna’s favourite foods, as illustrated by two stories. “Krishna had a good friend, Sudama. On one visit to his house, Sudama, who was from a poor family had nothing to offer his friend but flattened rice. Krishna was touched by this gesture, and blessed him and his family," says Shankwalker. The other story is linked to Narkasura. “After killing Narkasura and returning home, Krishna was welcomed with an aarti, and fed some flattened rice to help him regain his energy," says Pratik Joshi, freelance editor and Curations Lead at tour group, Soul Travelling.
Legends apart, Goa’s association with its staple crop of rice and its agrarian history form an important part of many of the state’s festivals. In the monsoon months (usually August), some celebrate nave or konsachem fest, the tradition of blessing the first new sheaves of rice. Hindus offer these sheaves to Ganesha (usually during Chaturthi), while Catholics get priests to bless the first sheaves. Diwali coincides with the harvest of rice. “We commemorate and celebrate farming and our agrarian ancestors through fov," says Joshi.
“In the olden times, we didn’t have the variety we do today. We ate whatever was abundantly available. Coconut, and rice are our traditional ingredients and that’s why they are offered in most of our rituals," says Assavri Kulkarni, photographer and home chef based in Porvorim.
The Goan Diwali morning is replete with rituals that go beyond food. The women wake up early and have a head bath, using utne (locally made herbal powder). The menfolk are massaged with oil before they can bathe, believed to replicate the reception Krishna received on reaching home after defeating Narkasura. An important ritual is the crushing, and tasting of the karit (a bitter melon). It is done to symbolise the killing of Narkasura, and also, the destruction of bitter and negative thoughts. Only after crushing the karit, does the family indulge in Diwali sweets.
“All these foods were eaten as medicine, so my grandmother used to say. They were considered to be healing. Winter is coming, and our bodies need fat and energy. Things like molasses and coconut and ginger all had healing properties, coconut milk had good fat, and fov was fibre," adds Kulkarni. Her Diwali kitchen also features seasonal fare like ambade (hog plum), sweet potato, and katekanga (lesser yam). “The Diwali meal usually features ambade sasav because in the season, hog plums are rich in Vitamin C. It’s a simple dish with warming mustard seeds, coconut and jaggery," says Kulkarni.
“Generally, there is so much fov that it eclipses other foods," laughs Sukhanti Shrikant Naik, who works with the restaurant and catering place, The Goan Kitchen. “On this day we will not eat onion and garlic, so satvik food is prepared."
The dishes thus, are simply prepared, with a few ingredients, and not too many spices. A typical accompaniment to the fov is usal, made with dried green peas or pigeon peas. Another sweet dish is kelyacho halwo, made with Moira or Nendra bananas, ghee, sugar and some cardamom. In Shankwalker’s home, after eating all the fov and the dried snacks, her family usually wants their fix of rice and fish curry (usually bangdyache hooman or mackerel curry).
“Our festivals always tell us what we should eat, and when," says Kulkarni. Rice is Goa’s native grain and Diwali is a good reminder of its versatility and why we should continue eating it.
Joanna Lobo is a Goa-based journalist.