Move over Vindaloo, Butter chicken rules the roost at Goan shacks

Goa, a hub for several domestic to international cuisines – Lebanese, Japanese, Burmese– has now interestingly shifted focus to North Indian cuisine, specifically the combo of Butter Chicken, with naan or tandoori roti! The 3-kilometre Calangute-Baga beach stretch, especially, has over 100 restaurants that serve these North Indian and pure vegetarian food items.

With an increase in the domestic tourists since the Pandemic, Goan restaurants are invariably changing strategies to cater to the Indian palates. “The entire Calangute-Baga stretch has restaurants and with huge signs, selling pure-veg and North Indian cuisine. Sadly, the very few restaurants, which serve Goan cuisines now, have also started serving north Indian food,” says John Lobo, who runs a shack on the Calangute-Baga beach.
Even the sarpanch of Calangute, Joseph Sequeira, has taken note of this change. “Earlier many restaurants catered to foreign tourists but now there are more domestic tourists. Also, most restaurants now employ chefs from UP and Bihar, and they don’t know how to cook Goan food. So you’ll find very few Goans visiting these places and more tourists,” says Sequeira.

With over 90% of clientele comprising North Indian tourists at any given lunch and dinner, Butter Chicken with or is one of the most common combinations that are ordered along this tourist belt. “These are the hottest selling items on the menu card. 50-60% of our orders consist of Butter Chicken daily, more on weekends. Since most sell North Indian food, the crowd gets distributed,” says Karan Singh, the manager of a restaurant. He adds that having a tandoori counter helps his business, as Indian tourists love to eat their gravies with .
Gajendra and Vikran Singh who manage a vegetarian restaurant in Calangute have improvised upon their working styles to suit the dominant palate. “Our business was hit post-COVID, so we changed our strategy: hiring more chefs and staff, adding a tandoori kitchen, we also do deliveries now, with the kitchen running 24/7. The most appreciated item on our menu is the Paneer Tikka and Paneer Masala. People also prefer the Dal Makhni/Tadka and Aloo Mattar; we also keep different types of lassis. For breakfast we serve South Indian items like Idli, Masala Dosa, along with Samosas. Since we are open all day, we make sure that tourists get what they want. We hired chefs from Bihar and Punjab to cater to the domestic tourists, who generally come from that region.”
Other Goan restaurants, like the one run by John, have hopped onto the trend. “We have a tandoor, where we make , Tandoori Chicken, and Tandoori Fish. Our guests want the tandoori flavour, and most want to try the fish instead of chicken. Our menu has other cuisines too, but over the last two years we have been catering mostly to domestic tourists,” says John.

“Butter chicken calms my soul,” said a newly-wed Kaustubh Sharma from Noida, who came here for his honeymoon and gorged on prawns for the first few days of his stay. “ prawns ? So, I went back to my butter chicken. As a matter of fact, Goa Butter Chicken is even tastier than what you get in Delhi! I’ve eaten the best Butter Chicken here!” says Kaustubh. And since his wife, Shivani, preferred vegetarian food, they would hit all the north Indian restaurants in the locality. “I was sceptical about the food here, as I thought Goa veg ? But there are so many options here, though I stick to safer ones like Paneer Tikka, Aloo Paneer and or ,” adds Shivani.
Niti and Niraj Chauhan, who celebrated their wedding anniversary in Goa, came here with their daughter and another couple from Delhi. “The first day we ate a little fish, but . Chicken Tikka ,” says Niti. “With children around, it’s better to stick to what they prefer instead of experimenting with new dishes. Our food for the last few days consisted of Chicken Tikka, Butter Chicken, Chicken Masala, and Jeera Rice and Biryani,” adds Niraj.
Speaking about the cost, a Chhattisgarh honeymooning couple says there’s not much of a difference as compared to a Delhi or Noida. “Comparatively, Goa is a bit expensive – around Rs 80-100 more, but we have come here on a holiday, so we don’t mind spending. The food however, is tasty and fresh, and we only visit restaurants that were recommended by our friends.”