I recently wrote about the health benefits of ginger and turmeric on my food blog. Spices come in dried form and of course fresh too. There are many varieties and species of plants that produce these spices and on my recent trip to Goa I was very lucky to visit the Atreya Spice Farm. The spice farm is based in Molem, Goa and you can do a day trip to the farm where they offer guided tours followed by a traditional Goan Lunch.
On arrival we were welcomed in a traditional way of a tikka and garland and offered refreshments before the tour.
Atreya farm is a 36 acre estate that is made up of forest
land, wooded groves, tropical gardens, an orchard, an astrological plant park,
and a medicinal plantation. It also has coconut and areca nut plantation,
wildlife and birds and butterflies.
When we visited Atreya
spice farm in October, it was recovering from a cyclone that had damaged a lot
of the plants.The farm suffered a lot of damage and it is slowly being
rebuilt.
The tour around the spice gardens was very interesting. Sonali our tour guide was very knowledgeable and she was very passionate about the
plants, the spices and their benefits. She shared a lot of interesting tips with us of home remedies.
There were nutmeg trees,
cardamom plants, cinnamon trees and many more. There were many more interesting
varieties of herbs and plants.
After the tour we enjoyed a lovely traditional vegetarian Goan lunch served in the rustic restaurant. The lunch is prepared on site using all the herbs and spices from the farm. It is cooked and served in earthen pots to give the food the authentic taste.
We enjoyed rice with dhal, chickpea curry called chole, stirfried dry cabbage, pakore (vegetable fritters) Goan bread and pappodams.
The spice farms also have a souvenir shop selling farm grown spices, herbal oils, coconut carvings and organic handmade soaps.
The Coconuts were carved in many designs such as monkeys, elephants and Lord Ganesh a Hindu monkey god and looked beautiful.
We had a lovely visit and would like to thank Atreya Spice Farm for the lovely gift they gave us, a hand carved Lord Ganesh from a coconut shell. It is a lovely gesture from Mr Amrut the farm manager.
You can visit the farm as a trip on its own and pay at the entrance or book through a package where you can do a combined day trip to Dudhsagar Falls, Atreya Spice plantation and the Old Goa Churches.We booked the combined trip through Trip Raja
We will definitely visit Atreya Spice Farm again on our next trip and would highly recommend anyone going to Goa to visit it. It's very educational and informative day out.
Since out visit, the farm has also introduced elephants there.
You may like to read about my other Goa posts:
Dudhsagar Waterfalls
Goan Old Churches
The Coconuts were carved in many designs such as monkeys, elephants and Lord Ganesh a Hindu monkey god and looked beautiful.
We had a lovely visit and would like to thank Atreya Spice Farm for the lovely gift they gave us, a hand carved Lord Ganesh from a coconut shell. It is a lovely gesture from Mr Amrut the farm manager.
You can visit the farm as a trip on its own and pay at the entrance or book through a package where you can do a combined day trip to Dudhsagar Falls, Atreya Spice plantation and the Old Goa Churches.We booked the combined trip through Trip Raja
We will definitely visit Atreya Spice Farm again on our next trip and would highly recommend anyone going to Goa to visit it. It's very educational and informative day out.
Since out visit, the farm has also introduced elephants there.
You may like to read about my other Goa posts:
Dudhsagar Waterfalls
Goan Old Churches
What a delectable visit Nayna - such a lovely place indeed! What was your favourite dish on the farm?
ReplyDeleteAll the dishes were really enjoyable, but the dhal was my favorite.
DeleteIt's nice to know where the spices come from and process in making them, looks interesting x
ReplyDeleteWow what an amazing trip this must have been. How interesting to get to find out where all the spices actually come from and how they make their way to our table.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds fascinating! The food looks delicious. I'd love to try the cashew liquor!
ReplyDeleteMust have been so interesting to see these at the source, I bet you left full of items for delicious dishes to make
ReplyDeleteWow, absolutely amazing, it must have been such an amazing experience.
ReplyDeleteI do love spices in my food but don't use them half as much as I should. The local liquor drink made from cashew nuts sounds yummy!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing visit. Nothing beats fresh spices. I love the sound of the cashew nuts drink.
ReplyDeleteLove the beautifully carved monkeys and idol's. Good to know in detail about the farm, spices and the local drink
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing and beautiful place to visit. I would love to go myself one day.
ReplyDeleteSo cool to learn more about where spices come from and looks like a lovely place to visit too!
ReplyDeleteI love spices too. It looks beautiful there.
ReplyDelete