How authentic Goan feni is made

The matriarch of a feni-making family in Paliem in North Goa sorts the cashew fruit before initiating its crushing. It is important to pick sufficiently ripe cashew fruits to ensure a good brew. The cashew feni season starts from late February and goes up to mid-May every year, depending on the fruiting of the cashew plant. (Photo by Gajanan Khergamker)

The next vital step in making feni is crushing the ripe cashew fruit. Here, the cashew fruit is being loaded in the motor-crusher. Some feni-making families crush the cashew fruit by foot too. In most of Goa, feni production is still a family affair where each member contributes in the production process. The consumption is restricted to the family and local sales. (Photo by Gajanan Khergamker)

The crushed pulp of the cashew fruit is piled up next to the fresh cashew fruit that is being readied for crushing. The pulp is then collected for juicing. In the next step, the fruit pulp is loaded in metal juicers and squeezed. The juice that is released seeps out from between the metal grill of the mechanical juicer and collects in containers. (Photo by Gajanan Khergamker)

The cashew fruit juice that is extracted from the pulp is then stored in large plastic barrels for fermentation for 8-10 days. It is important for the juice to ferment sufficiently for the production of feni.(Photo by Gajanan Khergamker)

The juice – collected after about 10 days of fermentation – is later transferred into earthen pots. The pots are placed in clay kilns and the juice is boiled to initiate the distillation process.(Photo by Gajanan Khergamker)

The emanating vapours of the boiling juice are made to pass through pipes submerged in large water tanks for cooling. Once cooled, the vapours condense into a distillate which is collected in plastic containers at the other end of the water tank. (Photo by Gajanan Khergamker)

The first distillate of fermented cashew fruit juice is called urrack. It is also consumed mainly by the locals. Urrack is added to the subsequent lots of fermented cashew juice distillate to form what is known as feni. (Photo by Gajanan Khergamker)