Prawn / Fish Curry

My friends , a set of enthusiastic twins , often experiment with food. They cook, try out new restaurants, post their reviews , offer suggestions. They are our go to guys for restaurant recommendations. They absolutely adore coastal cuisine. So from Goa, to malvan and coastal Maharashtra , they try to recreate the food they have eaten on their trips. Here is a favourite from their kitchen 
Ingredients
1 lemon, quartered
or 500 gms prawns / 2 medium sized fish, (any with firm white flesh, boneless and cut either into pieces or long slices) 
A pinch of salt


For the Masala:
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4 flakes garlic
8 Kashmiri red chillies
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
1 coconut, grated
1 1/2 inch lump tamarind, soaked in water
1/2 cup water
1 onion, finely sliced
2 green chillies, sliced


Method
Marinate the  prawns/ fish in salt and lime (half a lime) juice for 10 minutes.
Grind all the masalas togethar. Add a little bit of water to adjust the consistency.
Add the onions and green chillies to the masala and place the pan over the flame.
Keep the masala over the flame for about 10 minutes (two boils).
Once done, add the marinated fish to this masala.
Cook till one boil. (In case you use fish with bone cook up till two or three boils)
Serve hot.
Tastes best with unpolished Goan rice.

Prawns Masala

Some dishes are ridiculously easy to cook and yet look downright exotic . Some of these recipes handed down from my grandmother are even today on demand and enjoyed by all generations. One such lovely and absolutely delicious dish is Prwans Masala. Its so easy to cook and can still be the one dish that gets maximum number of ooohs and aaahs at a party. Beware: You need to cook it in a larger quantity than you would another entree. Guests go for seconds and thirds too.

So here goes
Ingredients
500 gms medium to large size prawns, shelled and de veined
2 onions finely chopped
2 tomatoes cut into medium size chunks
1 capsicum ( optional) , cut into medium size chunks
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp chopped green chilli
1 tblsp each chopped ginger and garlic
2 tblsp oil
1 tsp each red chilli powder , haldi, garam masala, corriander powder
Salt to taste
Finely chopped green corriander leaves

Heat oil , add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add in the chillies, ginger and fry for a minute. Add the onions and cook till transluscent. Add garlic. Then mix the red chilli powder, haldi, corriander powder and garam masala with 4 tblsp water. Add this to the onion mix and cook till oil separates.Add salt to taste.  Add the tomatoes and capsicum. Cover and cook till the tomatoes have softened. Add the prawns and 1/4th cup water. Cover and cook. Once the prawns turn opaque, take off the lid and dry out the water. Add the green corriander leaves and mix well. Serve hot with Rotis/ Bread or steamed rice.

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.