Goan fish curry

Here is a staple of Goan as well as restaurant food. However, the homemade version has an entirely different taste. This version is from a newspaper cutting and has been contributed by Ms Diana Raja. It has a few variations by us.

Ingredients
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Fish (Sliced 400 gms ) (Best with pomfret)
Onion - 1/2 -1
Chopped tomatoes- 2
Green chillies- 2
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Oil- 1/2 tbsp
Salt - to taste

For the paste
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Dry chillies- 8-9 nos
Corriander seeds 1-1/2 Tbsp
Cumin seeds -1/2 tsp
Chopped ginger-1/2 tsp
Tamarind paste-3/4 tbsp
Turmeric powder -1/2 tbsp
Water - as required

(Grind to a fine paste)

Method:
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Clean the fish fillets thoroughly with water.
Rub the fish slices with salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder (one pinch each). Set aside for 30 minutes.Grind the onions to a paste. Fry in oil till the paste turns pink and add the rest of the masala paste. Fry the mixture and add the chopped tomatoes (tomato paste is fine, too). Fry for a few minutes, and then add coconut milk and water and allow to boil.

Add the fish, green chillies and salt. Cook till the fish is done and the gravy reaches the desired consistency. Garnish with green corriander leaves.

(Leave out the tamarind paste if you don't like it, but I don't think Goans would do that. Again, curd can be substituted for coconut milk, but the same warning holds.)


Short cuts:
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You can buy standard Goan fish curry masala. Some versions do not require you to add anything other than fish and water. Parampara has a good version, but use 1/3 what the packet recommends.

Nothing gives the taste that fresh extracted coconut milk does, but the standard versions in tetrapacks are not bad at all. In fact, nothing gives the taste that fresh ground masalas do, if you can do it, and that starts with ginger garlic paste.