Goan-style seafood curry. I cooked this on Saturday it’s a tad involved, but you can cook it ahead of time, adding the seafood at the last minute.
Delicious like the region’s infamous vindaloo, spicy with the sweetness of cloves and star anise. Refreshingly tangy, thanks to the local fondness for vinegar, it’s perfect warm-weather fare.
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the spice mix
1 teaspoon cloves
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
8 dried red Kashmiri chillies
2 star anise
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
5 garlic cloves
3cm piece fresh root ginger
1 tablespoon palm sugar
1½ tabkespoon white vinegar
For the curry
1 onion
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large tomato
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
2 fresh green chillies
400g firm white fish
200g prawns
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
10 curry leaves
Coriander leaves, to garnish
Method
For the spice mix, toast the cloves, coriander and cumin seeds, dried chillies and star anise in a hot, dry frying pan until you can really smell them, then crush them to a powder in a mortar or spice grinder. Stir in the turmeric and salt.
Peel and crush the garlic cloves, and peel and finely grate the ginger, then stir both into the spice mix, along with the sugar – if your palm sugar comes in a solid block, crush this in the mortar, too (if you can’t find palm sugar. Finally, stir in the vinegar to make a smooth paste.
Peel and finely chop the onion. Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a large, wide pan over a medium heat, then gently saute the onion until soft and lightly golden, stirring to make sure it doesn’t catch and burn. Meanwhile, grate the tomato, discarding the skin
Add the spice mix to the pan and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes, until you can smell the spices again then stir in the grated tomato and continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and the pan is fairly dry.
Slowly add the coconut milk, stirring it in gradually to make a smooth gravy, then repeat with 100ml cold water. Slit the fresh chillies down their length, so they remain whole but open, add these to the pan, too, and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat a little, then leave to simmer for about 10 minutes, until the gravy has slightly thickened.
Meanwhile, prepare the fish and seafood. As long as you have enough for four people, you can use just about anything you fancy in this dish, but I like to go for a mix of firm white fish, and prawns for their nutty sweetness. Cut the fish into roughly 2cm chunks, removing any skin, and shell the prawns.
You can make the dish up to this point ahead of time if you like, but don’t add the fish and seafood until you’re ready to eat, otherwise it will be tough and overcooked if reheated. Taste the sauce, adjust the seasoning, if necessary, then drop in the fish and seafood, and cook gently for about five minutes, until translucent.
Meanwhile, make the tadka, or tempered oil, to finish the dish. Heat the remaining oil in a small frying pan on a high heat, then add the mustard seeds and curry leaves.
Cook for 30 seconds, until the seeds begin to pop, then stir into the curry pot.
Top with a little chopped coriander and serve with steamed rice.
Original recipe felicity Cloak in the Guardian
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