Some of the world’s most tasty cuisines come from India, just look at the shelves in any supermarket and the queues outside the Indian restaurants on a Friday night. ingredients that were once sold in only the Indian shops are now readily available on the shops this change in lifestyle is primarily due to tourism. This is not surprising as the food is prepared with pleasure and keen attention is paid to detail. However it is often difficult to recreate the authentic taste in your own kitchen. After all no chef would want to expose their trade secrets which give their dish an extra kick. However in this section I have chosen a variety of goan dishes with detailed recipes so u can recreate the dishes at home and impress all your friends with the authentic taste.

Although the traditional way of cooking may not be practical as it is often time consuming. This does not serve a problem for the goan people who believe the nicer the dish the longer it takes to produce. The preparation of grinding and marinating is a long process but goans take satisfaction in cooking food not only eating it.

Have you ever wondered where your powdered Cinnamon came from, and what is mace? Are spices for you small plastic bags with colourful powder? If ‘yes’ is your answer, you should visit the Spice Plantations scattered around the interior of Goa’s beautiful rural landscape.
The mild temperature throughout the year and high rainfall favour great richness and a variety of vegetation.

Traditional Goan methods of organic farming are conducted here and crops like coconuts, betel nuts, pineapples, different kinds of spices and much more are grown here.

There are two Spice Plantations in Goa, both situated in the Ponda region and are engaged in producing spice powders and mixes out of pepper, cardamom, tamarind and all the other spice groups and categories. Dry land crops like Timber trees, Traditional medicinal plants, Mangoes, Pineapples, Local peppers, Cashew trees, Jackfruits, Bamboo bushes etc. Wet land crops like Betelnuts, Coconuts, Banana, Papaya, Chickoo, Variety of local flowers, Love apple etc.

These Spice Plantation Farms, entertain groups of tourists which crafts an interesting day out. You can see the men climb on the Betel Nut trees, over a hundred feet above the ground, swaying from tree to tree and collecting ingredients fore mixes and spices.
All the spices and plants mostly have some medicinal properties.

The Goan identity is rooted, among other things, in deep enjoyment of food and drink. Thus when a Goan writer becomes nostalgic, he or she usually ends up reminiscing about the taste of their grandmother’s sorpotel, the texture of a perfect bebinca, or the aroma of a large glass of feni.
The basic components of Goan cooking are, not surprisingly, local products.

The claim that every part of the coconut is used for something is not an idle one. Coconut oil, milk and grated coconut flesh flavor many dishes, while toddy, the sap from the coconut palm, is also used to make vinegar and to act as a yeast substitute. Another important product of the palm is jaggery, a dark colored sweetener that is widely used in preparing Goan sweetmeats.

Goan cooking generally involves liberal amounts of spices, too, giving dishes a strange taste and distinctive aroma. The most commonly used include cumin, coriander, chilies, garlic and turmeric. Another local ingredient used to flavor fish curries is kokum. Particular combinations of spices have led to a number of styles of cooking, which have subtly differing flavours-masala, vindaloo and balchao being some of the most famous.
For the main content of the meal, seafood of all varieties is eaten, and pork and chicken are the most commonly used meats. The Portuguese influence in goan cooking cannot be ignored.

Dishes such as racheiado, caldeirada and cabidela reflect the legacy of the state’s colonial heritage.
Goan cuisine does not naturally cater for the vegetarian, and as compromise various cooking styles like xacuti, caldinha etc., are sometimes used in the preparation of vegetables. Two vegetable dishes, however, are mergolho, which is made from pumpkin and papaya and breadfruit curry.

GOA’S PAST

The sheer inaccessibility of Goa by land has always kept it out of the mainstream of Indian History. On the other hand, its control of the seas and above all the lucrative spice trade made it a much-coveted prize for rival colonial powers. Until a century before the arrival of the Portuguese adventure Vasco Da Gama who landed near Kozhikode in Kerala in 1498, Goa had belonged for over a thousand years to the kingdom of Kadamba. In the interim it had been successfully conquered by the Karnatakan Vijayanagars, the Muslim Bahmanis and Yousuf Adil Shah of Bijapur but the capture of the fort at Panaji by Alfonso De Albuquerque in 1510 signaled the start of a Portuguese occupation that was to last for 450 years.

Meanwhile, conversions to Christianity started by the Franciscans gathered pace when St.Francis Xavier founded the Jesuit Mission in 1542. With the advent of the inquisition soon afterwards laws were introduced censoring literature and banning any faith other than Catholicism even the long established Syrian Christian community were branded heretics. Hindu temples were destroyed and converted Hindus adopted Portuguese names such as DA Silva, Correa and De’Sousa which remain common in the region. The transitional influence of the Jesuits eventually alarmed the Portuguese government. The Jesuits were expelled in 1749 which made it possible for Indian Goans to take up the priesthood. However, standards of education suffered and Goa entered a period of decline. The Portuguese were not prepared to help but neither would they allow native Goans equal rights. An abortive attempt to establish the Goan Republic was quelled with the execution of fifteen Goan conspirators.

A spin-off of the British conflict with Tipu Sultan of Mysore (an ally of the French at the end of the eighteenth century, was the British occupation of Goa, a little known period of the region’s history, which lasted sixteen years from 1797. The occupation was solely liberalization such as the restoration of Hindu’s rights to worship, the nineteenth century saw widespread cvivil unrest. During British occupation many Goans moved to Mumbai and elsewhere in British India to find work.

The success of the post independence Goans struggle for freedom from Portugal owed as much to the efforts of the Indian Government who cut off diplomatic ties with Portugal as to the work of freedom fighters such as Menezes Braganza and Dr.Cunha. After a “liberation march” in 1955 resulted in a number of deaths and the state was blockaded. Trade with Mumbai ceased and the railway was cut off so Goa set out to forge international links particularly with Pakistan and Sri Lanka. That led to the building of Dabolim airport and a determination to improve local agricultural output. In 1961 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru finally ran out of patience with his opposite number in Lisbon the right wing director Salazar and send in the armed forces. Mounted in defiance of a United Nations resolution “Operation Vijay” met with only token resistance and the Indian army overran Goa in two days. Thereafter Goa (along with Portugal’s other two enclaves Daman and Diu) became part of India as a self governing Union Territory with minimum interference from Delhi.

Since Independence Goa has continued to prosper bolstered by receipts from iron-ore exports and a booming tourist industry, but it is struggling to hold its own against a tidal wave of immigration from other Indian States. Its inhabitants voted overwhelmingly to resist merger with neighboring Maharashtra in 1980′s and successfully lobbied for Konkani to be granted official language status in 1987 when Goa was finally declared a full-fledged state of the Indian Union.

THE STRUGGLE FOR KONKANI:

Even before Goa’s Independence in 1961 a handful of Goans were fighting a protracted battle to have Konkani recognized as a separate language. The Struggle to preserve it was more than just a quibble over the school syllabus. It related to the whole question of statehood and identity, at a time when Goa was threatened with absorption into one or other of its large neighbors.

The problem lay in the fact that after several hundred years of foreign rule there was little sense of what the language of the people really was. Konkani, the natural language of the region had been sidelined and had failed to develop under the Portuguese. Language had become divided on caste and community grounds. High caste families mostly “Catholics and Hindu Brahmins” spoke Portuguese, English and Konkani. Lower caste Hindu families tended to speak Marathi (the natural language of Maharashtra) as a first language and some Konkani. Although Konkani was the only language spoken by almost everyone in the state it was far from standard and the local dialects and scripts (there are five scripts in all promised problems of its own.

For those fighting the battle of Konkani the first step was to have it recognized as one of the language of India rather than as a dialect of Marathi which may in Maharashtra claimed it really was. With the assistance of the linguistic experts a few enthusiasts set about proving its separate identity. The first success was to have konkani recognized in 1978 as “an important Language” by the Sahitya Academe.

After this issue was quietly dropped until early 1986 when Luizinho Faleiro introduced a bill demanding the Konkani should be declared the official language of Goa. Finally after much political maneuvering an Official Language Bill was introduced and Konkani was declared the state language with safeguards for Marathi. Konkani was added to the schedule of the Indian Constitution as the 18th national language in 1992.

THE PRESENT:

As a legacy of its unusual colonial history Goa was inherited a mixture of language. Portuguese is still spoken as a second language by a few Goans, although it is gradually dying out. The official language of India is Hindi, which children in Goa are obliged to learn in school. Konkani is now accepted as the official language of the state and Marathi is also taught as a standard subject. Ironically the primary language used in many schools is none of the above – for most children are actually taught English. The arguments about continuing or abandoning this policy of placing such importance on English rage on. Most feel that continuing use of English is a distinct advantage to their children who will need it if they are to find good jobs in the future. Meanwhile children in Goa are taught three or four languages as a standard part of the school syllabus.

Goa’s history stretches back to the 3rd Century BC, when, it formed part of the Mauryan Empire. It was later ruled by the Satyahanas of Kothapur at the beginning of the
Christian era, and eventually passed to the Chalukyas of Badami, who controlled from 580-750 AD.

Over the next few Centuries it was ruled successively by the Shillaharas, the Kadambas and the Chalukyans of Kalyani. Goa fell to the Muslims for the first time in 1312, but the invaders were forced to evacuate it in 1370, by Harihara, whose capital was in present day Hampi.

They held Goa for nearly 100 years, and its harbours became important landing places for ships carrying Arabian horses to Hampi. In 1469 Bahmini Sultans of Gulbaga conquered Goa. When this dynasty broke up, the area passed to the Adil Shahas of Bijapur, who made Goa Velha their second capital. The old secretarial building in Panjim, is the former palace of Adil Shah, and it was later taken over by the Portuguese, as their official residence.

A fleet of four ships sailed out of the Tagus, in Portugal, on the 8th July 1497. Their departure accompanied by the tears shed by the crowds, and the chant of the priests was to have a colossal effect on this remote location on the Indian subcontinent.

Goa Airport is one of the busiest tourists airports in India. It caters to both domestic and international flights. Tourists visit this tropical paradise which serves as a recluse hub for them far away from the stressful city life. Dabolim is the main entry point in Goa. It is situated at a distance of around 29 km from capital Panaji on the coast near Vasco da Gama. Domestic and International Flights to Goa operate from Goa Airport. Indian Airlines, Air India, Jet Airways, Air Sahara, and Air Deccan are the various flights operating from Goa. Goa Hub offers you detailed information related to Goa Airport. It offers online booking facilities for both hotels and flights.

History:

Goa Airport was built by the Government of Estado da india Portuguesa, the Portuguese ruled enclaves in Goa, in the 1950’s. In April 1962, it was occupied by the Indian Navy’s air wing, when Major General K.P. Candeth, who had led the successful military operation into Goa, handed over the airport to the navy. The Air traffic control of Goa Airport still rests with the Indian navy, which earns revenue from this service on account of aircraft movements. However, there are demands in the local political circles now, to restore the civilian status of the airport, by relocating the Indian army’s air station to a new base.

Airport Structure:

Spread over an area of 688 hectares (1,700 acres), Goa Airport comprises of two terminal buildings, operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The domestic terminal, built in 1983, covers 2,000 sq m (22,000 sq ft), while the international terminal, built in 1996, has 1,000 sq m (11,000 sq ft) of space. The remaining area has been reserved for other service areas. The parking space can accommodate 84 cars and 8 buses, but has been reserved for staff vehicles. Private cars and buses have to be parked outside the airport premises.

Passenger Facilities:

Terminal 1

General

* T R Stall
* Handicrafts Emporium
* Book Shop

Arrivals

* International Money Exchange
* Hotel Reservation
* Facilitation Counter

Departures:

* FIDS
* Banking Services
* Snack Bar
* Tea/Coffee
* Soft Drink
* Postal Services
* STD/ISD Booth
* Flight Information
* International Money Exchange
* Restaurant

Terminal 2

General

* T R Stall
* Duty Free Shops

Arrivals

* International Money Exchange
* Tourist Taxi Information Counter
* Hotel Reservation
* Facilitation Counter

Departures

* Snack Bar
* Soft Drink
* STD/ISD Booth
* Flight Information
* International Money Exchange

Other Facilities:

* Trolleys
* Wheel chair
* Medical Services

Goa – Dabolim Airport (GOI):

Priceline offers numerous flights to and from Goa – Dabolim Airport. Priceline searches thousands of airlines and flight schedules providing you convenient flight times to and from Goa – Dabolim Airport. Goa – Dabolim Airport is located in Goa, India. With priceline, flying to your favorite Goa – Dabolim Airport destination is a simple mouse-click away.

Flights available at the Airport:

There are a number of flights from different airlines reach Dabolim airport in Goa. Following are the list of airlines that ply their flights from Dabolim airport with their destination:

* Air India Express – Cochin
* Indian Airlines – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai
* Jet Airways – Mumbai, Bangalore
* JetLite – Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad
* GoAir – Delhi, Mumbai
* Kingfisher Airlines – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Calicut, Cochin, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mangalore, Trivandrum
* Air Deccan – Mumbai, Hyderabad
* IndiGo Airlines – Mumbai

There are also a few international flights available from Dabolim airport, which are as below:

* Air India Express – Dubai
* Indian Airlines – Dubai, Kuwait
* SriLnakan Airlines – Colombo
* Transaero – Moscow

Transportation:

There is a Pre-paid taxi booth at the airport, located outside the terminal building. You can also avail bus services to reach nearby places Chicalim and Vasco da Gama. For those who need to catch a train, the nearest rail station is in Vasco da Gama. If you are coming down here by your car, there are limited car parking facilities for you, with a total number of 114 parking spaces for cars and 6 for coaches.
Useful Info

Goa Airport Facilities:

Book Shop
Handicrafts Emporium
Duty Free Shop
Snack Bar
Postal Services
International Money Exchange
Restaurant
Prepaid Taxi Service
Distilled Water
Free Baggage Trolleys
Wheel Chair

Contact Details
Goa Airport
Dabolim, Goa
Phone :91-832-540806
Fax :91-832-541610, 540907

Windsurfing is a unique blend of surfing and sailing, which requires the surfer to adjust his strength and balance to the changing patterns of wind and water. To the expert who has honed himself in all these nuances, windsurfing can indeed be an exhilarating experience.

Windsurfing trainers and experts alike claim Dona Paula bay to be the ideal location for the beginners. The prevailing winds and the calm sea, ensure almost lake-like conditions. The morning breeze is light and steady – just right for learners; while stronger winds that set in during the afternoons offer a perfect challenge for the more experienced.

Windsurfing is a unique water sport that involves both surfing and sailing. What is essentially required of a wind surfer is strength to regulate and balance to the changing patterns of wind and water. By shifting ones feet forward or backward, leaning towards the right or left, the windsurfer maneuvers and harmonizes the wind and water.

Dona Paula bay is considered to be the ideal location for those who are trying their hand at it for the very first time. Also, the morning breeze is apt for learners as it is light and steady.

Windsurfing is a unique blend of surfing and sailing, which requires the surfer to adjust his strength and balance to the changing patterns of wind and water. To the expert who has honed himself in all these nuances, windsurfing can indeed be an exhilarating experience.

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Water scooters in Goa provide the excitement of a motorbike on the waves of the sea Water scooters are often used for para sailing too. A rope with the length of about 300 feet is attached to the parasail harness on the one end and to the water scooter on the other end. Water scooters accommodate two people on a ride and children often opt for the scooters. Water Scooters in Goa are readily available at the Dona Paula jetty, Cidade de Goa, Majorda, and Candolim Beach.

Water scooters accommodate two people on a ride. This action sport provides all the thrills of a motorbike with the softness of an ocean instead of hard tar road beneath the feet. They are readily available at Dona Paula jetty, Cidade de Goa, Majorda, and Candolim beach.

Water scooters accommodate two people on a ride.

This action sport provides all the thrills of a motorbike with the softness of an ocean instead of hard tar road beneath the feet.

They are readily available at Dona Paula jetty, Cidade de Goa, Majorda, and Candolim beach.

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The most common water sport is swimming, although it is least mentioned in the media. The waters around the Goan beaches are warm and almost always safe.

Swimming can be enjoyed by the young, the old, the infirm, the affluent and the budget traveller alike. There are life guards at all Goan beaches, so check with them about the status of the sea, before you jump in.

The most common water sport in Goa is swimming. As Goa lies on the warmest ocean in the world there is no end to the fun and frolic of an innocent swim. Swimming can be enjoyed by almost all age groups the young, the old, the infirm, the affluent and the budget traveler .

Goa is situated on world’s warmest ocean line and so tourists just enjoy swimming here as this is safe from any dangerous sea beasts.

Passing time in Goa is not a difficult job, those who are fun lovers indulge frenetically in surf boards, parasail water scooters, skis, and speed boats. Everyone loving the ocean, one of the cleanest, cheapest yet least crowded playgrounds.

High fliers amongst the speed lovers can opt for parasailing. Both the Taj and Bogmallo Resort hotels provide the necessary equipment for this enthralling sport.

There’s a rope about 300 feet long attached to the parasail harness at one end and to the speedboat at the other.

When the boat speeds off on the water, the parasailor just takes one or two steps and he is lifted into the air, the parasail lifting behind him.

High fliers amongst the speed lovers can opt for parasailing. Both the Taj and Bogmallo Resort hotels provide the necessary equipment for this enthralling sport.

There’s a rope about 300 feet long attached to the parasail harness at one end and to the speedboat at the other.

When the boat speeds off on the water, the parasailor just takes one or two steps and he is lifted into the air, the parasail lifting behind him.

Para sailing is one of the most common and demanding sport in Goa. but those who are not comfortable with heights should not try their hands in it.

Almost all top hotels, local agencies arrange the programme of parasailing for the tourists. The session starts with basic learning and precautionary measures.

Learners will get the chance to polish their skills with the help of experienced trainers.

Dingy sailing is a cool water sport with two sails and side decks to sit upon. You can enjoy sailing while having a beer.

A pleasant change from windsurfing is dinghy sailing, often referred to as ‘beer and sandwich’ sailing. With the winds in Goa, so gentle most of the time, this particular sport offers its participants much time to relax.

Dinghies are available for hire at the Cidade de Goa and the Taj Holiday Village. Instructors are available for beginners.

These 15-odd feet long crafts hold three to four people comfortably. The Zuari estuary at Dona Paula is an excellent learning area – its calm waters being the kindest Goa has to offer.

With two sails and side decks to sit upon, dinghy sailing is as much fun as windsurfing and it is not necessary to be either agile or youthful to enjoy this form of sailing.

When water sports are in question, in India, Goa is the place to be!! The vast coastline, the tender sea and the pleasant weather team up to provide the perfect combination for water sports. The ideal season for enjoying all these sports is between October and May. There are also some water sports institutes in Goa for training up the beginners. The hotels also provide training and equipments for such sports. Although there are various kinds of water sports a much popular one especially among beginners is Dinghy sailing in Goa.

People who are less athletic and sporty and yet feels the urge to plunge into the water should try dinghy sailing in Goa. About 15feet in length, the Dinghy holds three to four people. Dinghy sailing in Goa is as fun as windsurfing yet you need not be agile or youthful to enjoy it. In fact the ride is enjoyable and yet so smooth that it is often referred to as “beer and sandwich sailing”.