The word vinegar is derived from the Old French vinaigre, meaning "sour wine". Goa's coconut vinegar is made by fermenting toddy (sur), which is the sap collected from the bud or spadix of palm tree flowers. A staple condiment in the Goan cuisine, vinegar is used to enhance foods, in preserving, cleaning, disinfecting and for other common needs around the house. Pure, flavourful, sour with the perfect zing and pale golden in colour, coconut vinegar is nutritious with various health benefits.
My mother-in-law prepares vinegar at home, so she was more than happy to share a bottle along with her recipe. The toddy is filtered and then, poured in an earthenware jar, covered with a cloth and an empty coconut shell. After a fortnight, a pão (bread) is blackened in firewood and dropped in the jar. Unique, compared to the usual way of incorporating pieces of heated roof tiles or hot roasted paddy. The bread imparts the flavour and tint to the vinegar. In another 7 days that is 22 days in total from the start, the vinegar is checked for acidity and colour. Strained and stored in glass bottles. A simple process and so easy to make vinegar at home. Only sourcing good toddy is a challenge with toddy tappers becoming extinct these days.
My mother-in-law prepares vinegar at home, so she was more than happy to share a bottle along with her recipe. The toddy is filtered and then, poured in an earthenware jar, covered with a cloth and an empty coconut shell. After a fortnight, a pão (bread) is blackened in firewood and dropped in the jar. Unique, compared to the usual way of incorporating pieces of heated roof tiles or hot roasted paddy. The bread imparts the flavour and tint to the vinegar. In another 7 days that is 22 days in total from the start, the vinegar is checked for acidity and colour. Strained and stored in glass bottles. A simple process and so easy to make vinegar at home. Only sourcing good toddy is a challenge with toddy tappers becoming extinct these days.
Homemade Coconut Vinegar
(Yields around 15 bottles)
Ingredients:
15 bottles of toddy
a muslin cloth
an empty coconut shell
an earthenware jar
one pão (bread)
Method:
Filter the toddy in an earthenware jar. Tie the jar with a cloth and then cover with the coconut shell. Set it aside in a warm dark place for 15 days.
Burn the pão (bread) in some firewood until black in colour. Drop the bread in the jar on the 16th day. Cover and close as above. Keep for 7 days and then check the vinegar for acidity and colour. After a total of 22 days from the start, vinegar will be ready.
Strain into plain glass bottles or bottles wrapped in wicker.
Note:
(Yields around 15 bottles)
Ingredients:
15 bottles of toddy
a muslin cloth
an empty coconut shell
an earthenware jar
one pão (bread)
Method:
Filter the toddy in an earthenware jar. Tie the jar with a cloth and then cover with the coconut shell. Set it aside in a warm dark place for 15 days.
Burn the pão (bread) in some firewood until black in colour. Drop the bread in the jar on the 16th day. Cover and close as above. Keep for 7 days and then check the vinegar for acidity and colour. After a total of 22 days from the start, vinegar will be ready.
Strain into plain glass bottles or bottles wrapped in wicker.
Note:
- Normally, heated pieces of roof tiles or hot paddy (dry roasted in a skillet) and wrapped in a muslin cloth are dropped in the toddy. My mother-in-law just uses the burnt bread to flavour and colour the vinegar.
- Vinegar was prepared before I landed in Goa hence, could not click step-by-step pictures.
