Goan Fish Curry | Orange Coconut Fish Curry

 The orange fish curry is, undoubtedly, most loved and cherished by local Goans and tourists alike. Made with easily accessible ingredients, this dish is bright, fascinating to the eyes, fulfilling to the tummy and is perfectly able to trigger bouts of nostalgia within the mind of a Goan-not-in-Goa or an ‘outsider’ who had once-upon-a-time visited this land of fish, coconut, cashew, sun and sand!

• While preparing this curry, it’s best to remember that although it has various spices in decent quantities, it ultimately gains its Oh-So-Delicious taste from the fish that is cooked in it; so use your favourite and the freshest catch! We have used Rawas.
• This classic orange fish curry is very similar to the Goan Sorak (click to read the recipe or watch the video), except that it includes kokum and excludes tomatoes which is vice-versa for my version of the Sorak. 
  
• Make a fine paste, adding a little water at a time for a beautiful consistency of texture in the final preparation.
• It tastes great hot and fresh, but can also be relished the next day as ‘Kaalchi-kodi’ (konkani for ‘yesterday’s curry’) where it is, simply, re-heated the next day and thickened further!

Ingredients:

For the Curry Paste:

• 1 cup freshly grated Coconut
• 2 dried Kashmiri Red Chillies
• 3 dried Bedki Red Chillies
• 1 heaped teaspoon Coriander powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 1 flat teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 3 large Garlic cloves
• 1 inch piece of Ginger
• Tamarind (lemon-sized amount soaked in warm water)

To prepare the Curry:

• Fish, of your choice
• 1 small onion finely sliced
• Kokum rinds, 5
• 1 slit Green chilly
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Clean and rinse the fish. Rub salt over the pieces and set aside for about 20-30 minutes. Rinse once more in water before adding it to the curry.

2. Prepare the curry paste by grinding together the above mentioned ingredients to a fine but thick paste with small additions of water.

3. In a kadai or vessel to be used for cooking the curry, squash the sliced onions with salt using a spatula/back of a spoon/fingers. Since we’re not sautéing the onions in any oil, this step helps soften the slices.

4. Add the prepared curry paste. Pour in approximately 2-2 1/2 cups of water to achieve the desired consistency and stir.

5. Heat it and bring it to a boil. Let it boil for 3-4 minutes.

6. Add the rinsed fish to the curry along with the kokum pieces. Let this cook for 7-8 minutes.

7. Check for seasoning. Add a slit green chilly and turn off the flame.

Serve hot with rice!

Watch the whole step-by-step recipe-video here:

Dev Borem Korum | Thank You and God Bless