Goan fish curry – a coconut-flavoured culinary marvel

Think fun, think Goa! Here’s one place to celebrate life and food. Once a Portuguese colony, Goa still retains the figments of the culture, especially in its cuisine. The most popular are Goan fish dishes. Not a dish is cooked here without pepper, red chillies, vinegar, coconut oil and tomatoes.

Here’s a recipe for a typical Goan pomfret dish. Bathed in masalas, the pomfret is cooked as a whole in a base of tomato.

Click here to read this recipe in Malayalam

Ingredients
6 pomfrets
1 cup scraped coconut
2 tbsp coconut vinegar
2 cup chopped onions
2 green chillies
1 cup tomatoes
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 red chillies
1 tbsp ginger
8 garlic cloves
1 cup soaked tamarind

Preparation
Sauté the onions in a pan
When they turn light brown, add green chillies and chopped tomatoes
Mix well
Add in chili and turmeric powders and sauté again
When the tomatoes are cooked, turn off the stove and set it aside
For the masalas
In a pan mildly heat coriander, cumin seeds and red chillies
Grind them along with scraped coconut, garlic, ginger and tamarind
Add water as required until it turns to a fine paste
Pour the ground mixture to the tomato mix
Heat this mix in a pan
Add water to the pan as required
When it comes to a boil, add the pomfrets
Cook for 5-10 minutes
When the pomfrets are cooked, top it up with coconut vinegar and turn off the stove
Serve hot with rice