The São João festival is Goa’s monsoon festival, where an array of sweet surfaces, such as the patoleo, Alle Belle, holle and more. While the doce bhaji is not reserved for this occasion, it is often made for it. The word ‘doce’ comes from the Portuguese word for sweet, and ‘bhaji’ is a word from the Konkani language that refers to cooking. So this recipe is basically a sweet dish made from dalia (broken wheat), cooked in a thick coconut milk mixture with sugar and cardamom powder, and dotted with raisins and cashews. With locals jumping into wells, that is quite symbolic and wearing ‘kopel’, which is a wreath made with flowers, vines, leaves and fruits to honour the religious figure of St. John the Baptist, after whom this grand São João festival is observed. There is also singing with local instruments, and to sustain such energetic activities, the fibre-rich dalia, which is a complex carb with a low G.I. index, helps. You can swap the sugar with local jaggery for a nutrient boost. Ghee is also added to make the preparation special. Doce bhaji is part of Goa’s colonial past, influenced by Catholic convent-style sweets introduced during Portuguese rule, when wheat, coconut, and sugar-based desserts became quite common. Its texture is reminiscent of halwa when cooked into a thick, sliceable concoction. In some Goan Catholic homes, doce bhaji is also prepared for Christmas and church feasts, not just the São João festival, given all of the ingredients are available year-round.