BHATI (DISTILLERY) :

One souvenir a visitor always carries home from his hoildays in Goa are cashew nuts. Cashew trees abound the Goan hillsides. The flowering in January leads to luscious, brilliantly coloured fruit in March, April and early May. It is then plucked, while the apple is used in the process of producing "Feni", the nuts are roasted for consumption.

Ironic though it is, the Portuguese imported this leafy tree to Goa where after taking root, it has given Goa the distinction of being the originator of the delicious alcohol "Feni". Distillation does not occur in the monsoons as the humidity is not conducive to the process of fermentation.

The distillation of cashew into Feni, involves a three part process. After the cashew is plucked from the tree, the nut is seperated from the cashew apple.

The cashew is squeezed for extraction of 'Niro' ( a sweet juice which tastes best when had chilled). Finally the 'niro' is then allowed to ferment and later poured in a big earthen pot and continuously boiled for distillation.

The first distillate is called 'urrak' (which has a very low alcohol content). Subsequent distillates yield feni. The nuts are separately roasted and cracked for consumption.