Seafood Feast

This Seafood fest was served up by my mom. Mom often travels and is gone for days on end. The day she has to leave , she bangs out a next to debauched meal. This meal has starting at 12 o clock position , Goan prawns curry, roti, steamed rice, fried fish , crab masala , shellfish and in the centre solachi kadhi or Kokum kadhi . This kadhi is a beverage which is served before a meal as an apertif, during a meal or after a meal as a digestive. Its coconut milk based , is slightly tart and salty. sometimes tempered with garlic, curry leaves or jeera. It forms a integral part of a goan meal.

If you notice the absence of a green vegetable in this meal , its because most goans ( non vegetarians) , are just not very fond of vegetables. I remember as a kid, we would be invited to friends and relatives for lunch and dinner on our holiday visits to my mothers village in Goa. Every meal ( a variety of fish dishes, curries, dry masala concoctions, fried fish and prawns and sometimes even chicken curries) would have a lone misfit looking serving of long green beans . It is cooked in the "upkari " style i.e. without turmeric or dry masalas, just tempered with a green chilli and garnished with fresh coconut. To me it was the most unappetizing vegetable. After a few days I noticed, every person leaving the vegetable on the plate. It was clearly cooked only to add a green vegetable option for the guests and neither hosts nor guests were interested in it.

So that explains why there is no green vegetable in the seafood fest.