It was 57 years ago in December that Gangaram Dattaram Sawant, a traditional khajekar from Diwadi (today Divar) was sitting at his stall inside the Old Goa Church complex garden that a fleet of soldiers bolted in and asked him to serve loads of crates full of soda bottles. Gangaram obeyed. “The owner of the soda factory had instructed me to offer the soldiers whatever they ask for and so I obliged. I faintly remember this was a day or two before the liberation of Goa. The atmosphere in Goa then was volatile and nobody had any clue of what would happen. Finally Goa was liberated from the Portuguese rule on December 19, 1961,” recalls Gangaram, 80.
Idling on a plastic chair in the little open verandah of his home at idyllic Sa Mathias, this elderly gentleman gets nostalgic thinking of the yesteryear Goa. He remembers the good old days when life was simple and people had less demands. Khaje, the only sweet available then, was much savoured by young and old equally. Gangaram’s father and grandfather, both were khajekars who made this sweet at their home on the island and sold the sweet in 10 surrounding villages. Old Goa, Pillar, Goa Velha, Panaji, Maye, Dicholi, Haturli, Shirgao etc. Flanked by his two sons, Gangaram is eager to share how he sold a kilo of ‘khaje’ at Rs 2.50 in good old days. Except for the price of the khaje, life has not changed much for Gangaram who still lives in his century-old home on the island. Today he sells khaje for Rs 240 a kilo.
“It’s time for our season to start from August onwards which will continue till December,” shares Gangaram who now hires labour to make khaje while sons Sandip and Sanjay help him in selling it on their make-shift stalls during zatras and fests. This traditional festive sweet of Goa which is ceremoniously sold during temple and church festivals is equally popular among both, Hindu and Christian communities and a visit to zatra or fest is just incomplete without the purchase of khaje.
Still a traditional vocation of many khajekar families, especially in Fatarpa, Quepem, Cuncoliem, Savardem-Curchorem, Ponda, Usgaon, Marcel, Bicholim, Mapusa, Maye and Valpoi, the sweet holds importance in festival occasions. These finger sticks dipped in ginger-jaggery or sugar syrup are coated with sesame seeds to make simple and yet tasty snack. “Over generations we have retained our typical style of making crunchy khaje with a soft coating of jaggery, a tinge of ginger flavour and a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds,” quips Sanjay Sawant, the younger son who has mastered the art.
Sawant family hires four aids who travel all the way from Bicholim. They are now trained in making khaje and the family pays them Rs 600 a day with two meals. In a year the family makes 500 kilos of khaje annually to sell across Goa. Their biggest sale happens during the 15 day stall at Old Goa in November-December put up for the feast of Goincho Saib, St Francis Xavier where people from across the globe visit and take home their khaje,
taking with them a sweet taste of Goa.
