Goan Fish Curry...Our Travels - Goa

Last year at this time, we spent 3 wonderful days in Goa, India. While we were in Goa we decided to visit the famous Shri Shantadurga Temples, Shri Mangeshi temple, and Shri Chandreshwar Bhutnath Temple. We also visited some of the restored plantation houses, beaches, and Goan Red Rice Fields. We opted only to drive by The Basilica of Bom Jesus for a number of reasons, among them because it was the year they display the remains of St. Francis Xavier and there were a lot of pilgrims. We did see some other beautiful colonial churches. Unfortunately on this trip we didn't get to visit the Dudhsagar Waterfall or the Rivona Buddhist Caves but there is always next time.

I won't lie, I was truly excited to try Goan cuisine. Everyone I had spoken to before the trip told me that trying traditional Fish Curry was a must! Goan cuisine is famous for its variety of seafood dishes cooked with coconut, chili, spices, and sometimes vinegar giving the food a very unique flavor.

The Goan food I tried fell into 3 types: Traditional, Portuguese, and Fusion; and it was delicious. Some of my favorites were: Shrimp Curry, Choris pao (Goan Bread stuffed with spiced Pork Sausage), Brinjal Piri Piri, Chicken Xacutti, Rissois de Camarão (Shrimp Dumplings), and of course the Fish curry.

Missing the warm sunshine on this rainy  November day, I tried to replicate that delicious curry I had. This dish has just the right amount of heat, tasty fresh fish cooked in a warmly spiced thick coconut tomato sauce and served with basmati rice.

Here's my recipe for Goan Fish Curry:
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 lbs Silver Pompano cut into sections
1 Red Onion
1 Tomato
2 Cups Dried Unsweetened Coconut
3 Tblsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
3 Dried Red Chilies
1 tsp Red Chili Powder
1 tsp Turmeric
2 Tblsp Ground Coriander
2 Tblsp  Ground Cumin
1 tsp Tamarind Paste
1 tsp Salt
2 cups of Water
2 Tbsp of Oil

Prep Work: Clean and cut the fish into 1/2" steaks.

Directions:

1. Add the tomato, onion, coconut, garlic-ginger paste, chilies and spices to a food processor and grind to a medium fine paste.

2. Heat the oil to medium hot in a pan and add the paste. Fry for a few minutes until slightly darkened and aromatic.

3. Add 2 cups of water and tamarind paste stir and bring to a boil. Add salt to taste.

4. Gently add in the fish, and simmer cook  uncovered for 10 minutes.

Serve with Rice, and Garnish with Cilantro.

Enjoy!