Goa is my happy place, I love the food, the sun and the people. Goan food has been heavily influenced by the Portuguese occupation which lasted 451 years. Fish is plentiful and the signature flavours of the Goan and southern Indian region are coconut, tartness from vinegar or citrus as well as dry red chilli and just a touch of sweetness. Make the curry the way you like, I use *Kashmiri chilli in all my recipes which are mild and then you can amp up the heat with some hot fresh chillies to taste.
You can make the broth ahead of time and simply reheat when you’re ready to cook the fish. Serve with rice.
Use any sustainable firm white fish, haddock, cod or hake all work well.
5 cm piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
3 dry red chilli (I used *Kashmiri – see note above)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp lightly crushed fennel seeds
2 medium red onions, finely diced
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 big ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tsp tomato purée
400ml coconut milk
500g white fish fillets, skinned and cut into 4 pieces
1 lime, quartered
1 small bunch coriander to finish
Put the ginger, garlic and dry red chilli in a small blender or processor with a splash of water and blend to a paste.
In a large wide-bottomed, lidded frying pan on a medium heat add the oil. When hot add the mustard seeds and crushed fennel seeds and cook for a minute. Be careful that they don’t burn. After a minutes, turn the heat down, add the onions and cinnamon stick and cook gently until golden, around 10 minutes.
Add the ginger garlic paste along with the ground spices to the onions, stir and cook until the water has evaporated and the oil is released from the onions. Add the tomato purée and cook for a minute then the chopped tomatoes and a tsp of salt, Pour in 50 ml of water from a freshly boiled kettle and cook until completely reduced and the paste is again releasing oil.
Stir in the coconut milk with another 100ml of water, bring to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes. Slip the fish pieces into the broth, remove from the heat, put the lid on and leave to cook very gently for 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. Check the seasoning and serve with lime and coriander leaves on the top.
- 5 cloves garlic peeled and roughly chopped
- 5 cm ginger peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 dried red chilli (I used *Kashmiri - see note above)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp lightly crushed fennel seeds
- 2 medium red onions finely diced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 2 big ripe tomatoes roughly chopped
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 500 g white fish fillets skin removed and cut into 4
- 1 lime quartered
- small bunch coriander to finish
Instructions
- Put the ginger, garlic and dry red chilli in a small blender or processor with a splash of water and blend to a paste.
- In a large wide-bottomed, lidded frying pan on a medium heat add the oil. When hot add the mustard seeds and crushed fennel seeds and cook for a minute. Be careful that they don't burn. After a minutes, turn the heat down, add the onions and cinnamon stick and cook gently until golden, around 10 minutes.
- Add the ginger garlic paste along with the ground spices to the onions, stir and cook until the water has evaporated and the oil is released from the onions. Add the tomato purée and cook for a minute then the chopped tomatoes and a tsp of salt, Pour in 50 ml of water from a freshly boiled kettle and cook until completely reduced and the paste is again releasing oil.
- Stir in the coconut milk with another 100ml of water, bring to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes. Slip the fish pieces into the broth, remove from the heat, put the lid on and leave to cook very gently for 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. Check the seasoning and serve with lime and coriander leaves on the top.
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