Goan Fish Curry

In thinking about how I (Joshua) would differentiate my posts from Trevor's, I came to the conclusion that I will relay stories and adventures that go with my favourite dishes to cook ...

Last year before I met the wonderful man Trevor, I spent an amazing month in India. What a place; a place of culinary and cultural masters!

Before leaving for India I had a lot of people telling us the dos and don'ts of travelling in a place such as India including, for example - 

• “Do not talk to the Beggars”

• “Do not eat the meat”

• “Do be cautious. Everyone is there to cheat you”

• “Don’t touch the cows”

Perhaps to my surprise, all of above was proven to be absolute codswallop! Well, except for one .... “Do not eat meat …” 

Probably my favourite meal these days comes from when I ventured down with my lovely travel companion Ascher, to the restaurant on a little beach in Goa, where we could  sit at our table and wriggle our toes in the sand and then, as the tide came in; wriggle them in the warm salty water. 

I ordered the dish most know to Goa. Fish Curry! Oh me oh my was it the most amazing thing I ever tasted? Oh yes it was!The aroma of the fresh coconut milk and coriander seeds; the slight heat of the green chilli, crunching into a stray cardamom pod and, the perfectly cooked fish; the result utterly amazing. Oh the thoughts of it make my mouth water. 

ANJUNA BEACH, GOA, INDIA

At round 4AM I awoke in my scarcely furnished, mosquito filled beach side accommodation to find out that "Do not eat the meat" is something I perhaps should have listened to. 

The following day I contemplated how something so amazing could have made me feel so ill. That was the last of the meat I ate on my travels in India. Even with the absence of meat there were so many amazing food experiences that followed.

Since being back in Australia it is the main dish that I remember so amazingly that spurred me to try and recreate this dish in the same amazing and memorable way as I had enjoyed it in  India (well minus the toilet trips!).

So how does this dish tie in with both myself and Trevor? We both made the decision to go Vegetarian about six months ago. One week in and I had lost three kilograms. Those of you that know me are aware that I didn't have three kilograms to lose. EVER! For those of you that do not know me I am a pretty attractive pile of skin and bones even If I do say so myself! 

Trevor and I decided we had to get smarter about our decision to go vegatarian so resolved we were going to change our diet to include fish making us pescetarian. This was something new to me as fish was something I had never really eaten and certainly had never cooked. 

Trevor has since taught me the basics behind cooking fish and then left me to my own devices. Once I had the basics under my belt I decided to replicate the Goan Fish Curry I had eaten in our little piece of Paradise on Anjuna Beach in Goa. So after trying many different recipes I have found the perfect combination of 4 or 5 recipes!

It is now a dish that Trevor and I will eat at least once a fortnight. To think I had never cooked Indian or Fish before meeting Trevor! Pretty cool I think!

Goan Fish Curry

First thing! Make sure that you have fresh fish. Not fish that has been sitting on the beach with the temperature at around 35ºC for half of the day.

Ingredients

4 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

3 Cardamon Pods (Bruised)

1 tsp tamarind paste

1 tsp turmeric

1 red chilli

1-2 green chillies

olive oil

2 garlic cloves (squashed and chopped)

a small stump of ginger

2 brown onions

2 x 400ml tin coconut (use the better stuff)


650g of Firm Fish like Snapper, Barramundi (We like to use Red Emperor)

1. Pour yourself a glass of wine... I like a Pinot mostly or if it is warm I will have a glass of bubbles..
2. Toast the Coriander, Cumin, Cardamon together in a dry pan. Continuously agitate the pan so that all of the surfaces toast. You will smell the cumin seeds start to char when they are done. Take out of the pan immediately as they will continue to cook in the pan otherwise. Grind them up in your spice grinder or in a mortar and pestle.
3. Heat some oil in a large pot and fry the onions on a medium heat slowly. Let them sweat it out a little! When they start to brown slightly add the ground spices, turmeric, garlic and ginger. Fry for a further 1 or 2 minutes. (The house should be smelling heavenly at this stage)
4. Now add the coconut milk, tamarind paste, and all the chilli (obviously to your taste). Let it simmer on low heat for about thirty minutes... (Very very low simmer. Just tiny bubbles!)
5. Turn up the heat to medium and add the chunks of fish. Allow to cook for only 3-5 minute!
6. Serve with Steamed Rice! My method is melt some butter (40 ish grams) in a wide pan. Toss the dry rice (300grams) through the butter. Ensuring all the rice is coated. Add boiling water (500ml) and cover for 15-20 minutes. Lift the cover to check only at 10 minutes and 15 minutes. 
7. If the rice is not ready after 15 minutes remove the lid and allow to cook uncovered until ready!Cook plenty of Poppadum's and serve the Curry in a pretty red bowl like the one above... Or however you wish, I suppose.

For you wine drinkers out there try this Goan Fish Curry with a lovely Gewurztraminer. Speaking of Gewurztraminer we love the Goaty Hill Gewurztraminer.