Meals · Goa

Goan Fish Curry

A bright orange coconut curry soured with kokum and coloured with Kashmiri chillies, simmered just long enough to cook kingfish or pomfret.

Prep 20 min · Cook 25 min · Total 45 min · Serves 4

Ingredients

Fish

• 500 g Kingfish steaks or pomfret
• ¼ tsp Turmeric
• ½ tsp Salt

Masala paste

• 1 ½ cups Fresh coconut, grated
• 8 Kashmiri dried red chillies
• 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 6 Black peppercorns
• ½ tsp Turmeric
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 1 inch Ginger

Curry

• 2 tbsp Coconut oil
• 1 Small onion, finely sliced
• 1 Small tomato, chopped
• 2 Green chillies, slit
• 6 Kokum pieces
• 1 tsp Salt

Method

1. Salt the fish. Rub the fish with turmeric and salt and set aside while you make the masala.
2. Grind the masala. Soak the chillies in 1/4 cup hot water for 10 minutes. Grind with the coconut, coriander, cumin, peppercorns, turmeric, garlic, ginger and the soaking water to a very smooth, thick paste, adding up to 1/2 cup more water.
3. Fry the onion. Heat the coconut oil in a wide pan and fry the onion until soft and pale gold. Add the tomato and cook until it collapses.
4. Simmer the curry. Stir in the masala paste and fry 2 minutes, then add 1 1/2 cups water, the green chillies, kokum and salt. Simmer gently until the raw smell goes and a film of oil appears.
5. Cook the fish. Slide in the fish in one layer and simmer without stirring, shaking the pan now and then, until just cooked through. Don't let it boil hard.
6. Rest. Turn off the heat and leave 15 minutes for the kokum to sour the curry. Serve with plain rice.

Tips

The curry should be pourable, not thick. It tastes better a few hours later, so many Goan homes make it in the morning for lunch.