Think Goa and the first thing that comes to our mind is pristine beaches. With its picturesque beachscapes and bustling party scenes, Goa has been a traveller's paradise for years. But what equally played a major role in popularising Goa as a tourist's paradise is its food culture. A perfect mix of Portuguese, Coastal and Maharashtrian food culture, Goan cuisine has a wide variety of dishes (mostly seafood and red meat) that offers you a unique mix of flavours to relish. Goan cuisine is a part of Konkani food culture, which is known for its hot-n-spicy nature. One such lip-smacking instance is Goan pork vindaloo. Also available in mutton, chicken, prawn paneer variation, vindaloo is basically juicy and soft meat (and the substitutes) dunked in a rich gravy that is spicy and hot, with a tinge of sour. Almost every food aficionado across the globe is well aware of this popular dish from Goa. But do you know what to pair this lip-smacking dish with to enjoy it to the fullest? Read on.
While vindaloo is generally paired with steamed rice, according to food experts, it tastes best with sanna (or sannas). A close cousin to South Indian idli, sanna is a savoury steamed bread (or rice cake). It is also popular in Mangalore and several other coastal regions of India. Sannas have a few variations in the recipe. Keeping rice as a constant ingredient, some ferment it with urad dal, coconut milk and coconut, while others use toddy for fermentation. For the unversed, toddy is a wine-like beverage, made with fermented sap of palm tree. The ones who do not find toddy can replace it with yeast for leavening.
You will also get a sweet version of sannas, where jaggery is used in the rice batter. This sweet version is called godachi sannas and can be enjoyed as is.
Keeping its popularity in mind, we bring a simple sanna recipe that can be prepared using just a few ingredients. All you need for the dish are rice, coconut, tody (or yeast), salt and sugar.
Soak the rice in water overnight and then grind it into a smooth paste, with tody. Add grated coconut and sugar and let it rest in a warm place for at least 3 hours. This will help the batter to ferment. Now add some salt, mix thoroughly and place the sannas in round moulds and steam for 15 minutes.
Click here for a step-by-step Goan sannas recipe.
Pair these soft and fluffy sannas with pork vindaloo or any spicy curry and take a bite. Enjoy the flavours and do not forget to let us know how you liked it.