Close your eyes and imagine standing beneath a canopy of pepper vines, the air thick with the fragrance of cardamom and wet earth, a peacock calling somewhere in the distance, and an old Goan caretaker pointing to a tree that was planted by his great-grandfather. That is a Kulаghar. And no, it is nothing like what the tourist buses would have you believe.

When people think of Goa’s food, dishes like fish curry rice, vindaloo, or cafreal often steal the spotlight. But there’s another quiet hero that shows up on almost every Goan breakfast table and dinner plate, bread.