Aromas of Goa

YESTERDAY I had the good fortune of accompanying my friend Eslinda to Christ College, where she was to showcase a selection of Goan cuisine to students of the hospitality management course. Eslinda needed no hand-holding from me, but only to demonstrate a couple of vegetarian dishes, which she felt were really not her forte, just like most Goans in whose culinary dictionary, the word “vegetable” rarely finds mention, unless you comb it well with a powerful magnifying lens!

A line-up of hearty Goan dishes. (Pic by June Carvalho)

The Goan meat and seafood dishes a la Eslinda, were cooked to perfection with the authenticity lent by the use of the golden-hued Goa palm vinegar and fiery looking Kashmiri red chillies in the pork vindaloo and the recheiado paste tucked into the insides of the mackerel. Apparently, the red chillies are not as angry as they look, only lending an appetizingly rich red to the gravy, without making it unbearably spicy. I thought the chicken cafreal needed to look a little greener, but had no complaints about its taste. The red prawn curry (barely visible at the top end in the pic above) was excellent and teamed up very well with rice. To end on a sweet note were pan rolls with a coconut and jaggery filling.

The students were given a print-out of the recipes and were divided into teams to handle each dish at different work stations in the huge kitchen equipped with, among other paraphernalia, enormous gas stoves that hissed away, heating the bottoms of gigantic vessels.

Our initial apprehensions belied, the task of preparing around 60 portions of each dish seemed effortless and got done well within the stipulated time in a kitchen bursting with energy, a melange of aromas and generous lashings of fooling around as young students are wont to do. All in all, it was a good learning experience, not only for the students whose curriculum demands exposure to Indian regional cuisines, but also for the two of us who got a peek into the functioning of an industrial kitchen and a small taste of high pressure cooking.

Later we were invited to dine at their training restaurant, along with their faculty. The food was nicely plated by the students. They are still learning. The faculty members appreciated the hearty fare, one of them adding that a xacuti and a sorpotel would have made it a superlative experience. To which I would have liked to add: "Helloooo! A drop of cashew feni too!" but reminded myself in time that it was a cooking demo. And that we were sitting. In a mock restaurant. In a college. In landlocked Bangalore. And not...as wishful thinking might permit...on the sands of Betim or Benaulim!  

Here are some of the recipes that were prepared that eventful morning. More will follow as soon as I have the time to upload them...which also includes a few vegetables.

  

FISH RECHEIADO

“Recheiado” at first sight can confuse your sense of pronunciation. It is simply pronounced “rechad”, the "ch"  sounding like the "sh" in "sheekh" or "shammi kebab" with all those in-between vowels remaining obscure and the ending “O” remaining so silent that you hardly acknowledge its presence. But it’s this uniquely Goan fish fry that you’re after, so forget the disconnect between spelling and pronunciation. If you can say “rechad” without batting an eyelid, I'd say you’re fit to tuck into it. 

Fish Recheiado (Pic by June Carvalho)

What you need: 

[For four mackerals or white pomfrets]

For “rechad” paste:

12 red chillies

8 peppercorns

¼ tsp cumin seeds

12 flakes of garlic

2 tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp sugar

Marble sized ball of tamarind (soaked)

½ cup Goa vinegar

Salt to taste

Oil to fry.

For the coating:

Half a cup of gram flour (besan) mixed with about two tablespoons of fine semolina and seasoned with a  little salt and turmeric powder.

What you do:

Soak the “rechad” paste ingredients in the Goa vinegar for about 10 minutes and grind to a fine paste using the same vinegar in which it was soaked.

Scale and clean the fish. Smear a mixture of salt and lemon juice on the inside and outside of the fish and keep aside. With a sharp knife, slit the fish from its back on both sides and fill the cavity with the “rechad” paste.

Coat with the gram flour and semolina and shallow fry on both sides, in hot oil till crisp on the outside. Garnish with onion rings and lime wedges and slide from pan to plate.

PRAWN CURRY 

What you need:

1 cup prawns peeled, deveined, washed

2 green chillies

2 medium onions, sliced

1 tomato cut into quarters

1 200 ml tetrapak coconut milk

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 ½ tsp cumin seeds

6 cloves garlic

4 dry Kashmiri red chillies

4 peppercorns

½ inch piece ginger

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp tamarind pulp

Salt to taste

2 tbsps oil

PS: You can also extract fresh coconut milk from two cups of grated fresh coconut, ground in three cups of warm water. Strain and use.

What you do:

Marinate the prawns in salt and a dash of turmeric powder.

Grind all the ingredients [except the green chillis and one of the sliced onions] to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a pan, fry the sliced onion and green chillies till translucent. Now add the curry paste, stir around a bit and add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Drop the prawns into it, add the quartered tomato and simmer for five minutes. If the gravy is too thick, add a little more water to obtain the desired thickness. Remove from heat and keep covered till serving time. Serve with rice. For 4 to 6 persons.