GOAN FISH CURRY

GOAN FISH CURRY: THE FELINE OCCURRENCE

By GM for The Planet Food

India’sfavourite holiday destination just as for many overseas tourists has been theIndian coastal town, Goa. When in Goa, I try to stick to Goan sea food dishes, andnot indulge too much in non-Goan food, after all, the celebration of flavoursin traditional cuisines always has its own rewards. The Goan fish curry isamongst my preferred meals both as an independent dish as well as a thaalioffering.

While I willdwell upon my Goan food travels in detail in my other writings, today I'mpenning down the recipe for the sinfully tasty, Goan fish curry! Hot (perhaps atad more than my usual capacity for spice), but extremely delicious and definitelyworth travelling to the other side of town or even globe for! It is so uniqueto its place of region, that it is known by no other name than, the ‘Goan fishcurry’ in all parts of India.

But, before Iget down to discussing the dish, I want to share with you a pretty scary (andfunny) incident that took place a couple of years back when I went with mybrother and our friends to a very humble little eat out in South Goa, whichcomprised just a few plastic table and chairs in the backyard of a small Goanhouse. Now, the place although in the open, already smelled of fish when wewere entering it, so my palate was of course prepared for the food. But, I wasnot prepared for was the sheer swamp of cats that ruled this place! And at thetime when my fear of cats was at its absolute peak. I almost fainted at thesight. They were spread across the garden, on the foot of all the tables andsome even on top of the tables! The other customers seemed to be amused bythem. I on the other hand, was completely stumped. While my hunger had reacheda near fainting level (having skipped breakfast), my fear was not going to letme enjoy the meal. But there was clearly no choice. I just had pull up all mynerves and sit there calmly praying like crazy they wouldn’t be interested inme when there was so much fish around! Alas, that was anything but far fromwhat followed. The thaalis were served with a crisply fried fish piece, redGoan fish curry, steam rice, chapaattis, and dried prawn on the plate, my eyesraced to see the cats (at least 7-8 of them!) from the neighbouring table almostjump their way to ours! I think I heard myself squeal louder than their purrs!The rest of the meal time was spent equally between gorging the mouth smacking mealand avoiding the cats scratching my feet from under the table (they were verypressing in their demands after each bite). While I have with time, gotten overmy intense fear of cats (I can almost pet them now), I can’t still confidently proclaim that the image ofthat lunch doesn’t scare me even today!

Recipe:

Time: 40 – 45 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1 medium size lemon: juicesqueezed in a bowl

• 2 medium sized fish, (any whiteflesh boneless fish cut into equal fillet pieces. I prefer the Surmai/ kingfish)

• Salt to taste

• Vegetable Oil: 3-4 Tbsp

For the Masala:

• Garlic : 4 medium cloves

• Kashmiri red chillies: 6 to 8depending upon your spice scale

• coriander seeds: 1 Tbsp

• Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp

• Turmeric powder: 1 Tsp

• Fresh coconut: Freshly grated (amountingto a medium sized bowl)

• Kokam: 100 grams soaked inwater (this can be substituted with Tamarind)

• Water: 1/2 cup

• Onion: 1 Medium sized, finelysliced

• Green chilly: 1 thinly sliced(you can deseed them as I do to reduce the heat)

 Direction:

• Marinate the fish in salt, pinchof turmeric and lime (half a lime) juice for 30 – 45 minutes (you can cover withcling wrap and keep it in the fridge while you prepare the masala as this is tobe added later)

• Grind all the masalas togetherin a mixer/ grinder, adding a little bit of water in intervals, while grinding

• In a deep dish non-stick pan pourin oil and sauté the onions and green chillies

• Once the onions turn pink, add theground masala to the pan

• Add water and cook for about 10minutes

• Cook till the curry comes to aboil, then add the marinated fish to this masala

• Cook on a medium flame for 5-6minutes, then simmer for 3-4 minutes and turn the flame off

Your curry is ready. Serve hot with steamed rice