Goan Fish Curry
Goa di Machchi
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Heat
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Serves
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Dietary Info
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Prep 30 mins
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Cook 20 mins
Fish cooked in a spicy paste of chilli and coconut with the tang of fruity tamarind and sweet onions.
Hari says
An iconic Indian dish which uses my favourite whole Kashmiri chillies as the key ingredient. In the south, it's all about frying a pungent spice paste to create the basis for a delicious sauce and fill your kitchen with a mouth-watering fragrance.
This dish uses some classic ingredients from the region from fresh coconut to tamarind for a robust, yet fresh and fragrant, flavour. I love this cooking style because it's all about cracking spices, squishing garlic, bashing ginger and slicing chillies. 'Argument Cooking' I call it.
We use the flat pestle and mortar to grind spices, the coconut scraper (The Coconut Scraper - that's going on my gravestone) and even a machete to split the coconut. Exciting stuff. Now, you can use coconut cream to create a thicker creamy sauce or you can go down the traditional path as I do and use water to make a thinner, lighter sauce. Either way, this is a classic curry packed wih fresh tastes you will just love.
Check out my Goan curry kits here for a handy packet of all the top quality spices you need for this recipe.
- Ingredients
- Method
- 600g skinless white fish fillets, chopped into chunks
Marinade
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp salt
Spice paste
- 8 dried red chillies
- 80g fresh coconut, grated
- 3 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp tamarind extract
Sauce
- 2 tbsp of oil
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 tomato, puréed
- 3 fresh chillies, slit lengthways
- Handful of coriander, chopped
Method
- Mix the salt, lemon juice and turmeric powder and rub over the fish chunks and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
- Soak the dried chilli in 250ml of warm water for 15 minutes. Drain and reserve the water.
- Make up the spice paste by placing the soaked chillies, coconut, coriander seeds, chopped onion, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, garlic, tamarind extract and two tablespoons of the reserved soaking water in a blender and process to make a smooth paste.
- Heat oil in a shallow wide based pan and add the sliced onion and fry to soften - do not brown. Add the spice paste and cook until golden brown. You may need a splash of water to ensure the paste doesn't burn.
- Once aromatic stir in the tomato purée and fresh chillies and cook for a further five minutes.
- Add water (or coconut milk if you prefer) to create a lovely sauce, bring to the boil and cook for a few more minutes.
- Reduce the heat and gently place the marinated fish with any juice into the pan and cook for between five and seven minutes until the fish is soft.
- Sprinkle with coriander to serve.
Served with
All you need is some plain rice or naan and let the fish speak for itself.
Nutritional information
| Typical values* | per Serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 91 |
| Fat (g) | 4.7 |
| of which saturates (g) | 2.6 |
| Carbohydrates (g) | 3.2 |
| of which sugars (g) | 2.6 |
| Fibre (g) | 1.0 |
| Protein (g) | 9.6 |
| Salt (mg) | 0.72 |
This goes well with
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Comments
Comments (22)
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Hari Ghotra
Hi Ryan I am so pleased you love this one. Thanks for trying it and for leaving your comments. Hari
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Anne
Wonderful curry, great flavour, one of my favourites. I use coconut water instead of milk to keep it light and healthy, works really well.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Anne Good to hear that you enjoyed it - love your addition too. Please do post pictures of your dish on the app https://hari.is/2P5rXbk Thanks Hari
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mixy
If you don't have fresh coconut, can you then replace with coconut milk?-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Mixy Yes you can - It will give a more creamy finish where as this is usually a sharper tomato type dish but use what you have. Thanks Hari
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mixy
I guess it is better to use a robust white fish, so it stays hard and doesn't fall apart when cooking? What white fish would you normally use?
Thanks-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Mixy Yes something robust - you can try cod loin in large chunks or Hailbut or even monkfish. Let me know what you think. Thanks Hari
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Michael
I always wanted to learn this dish when travelling in India :) Now that I am home I will cook your version!! Love your webiste and cooking videos!!
Best wishes, Michael from Foodvagabonds-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Michael Lovely to hear from you. Your food travels sound amazing and I would love to hear what you think of this dish. It's all about the vinegar and chillies that makes it so special. Let me know how you get on and don't forget to post images onto my app. Thanks so much for getting in touch Hari.
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Ravi
Ginger missing ? Can't think of a fish curry without that. I am giing to add that, as a variation when I try this today-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Ravi how was it?
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Jo
I cooked this on Friday night for a party of ten people, by doubling up the quantity and adding some tiger prawns mange tout along with the fish - it was delicious and easy to make. I cut back a little on the number of chillies as was concerned it would be too spicy for some. I have just finished it off now for lunch, watered down to make a soup - yum! Will definitely be making this again!-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Jo That's fantastic to hear - I can see why you would tone it down a bit when catering for a large group. Like the idea of the soup too. Thanks so much for using the recipe and taking time to leave a comment. Let me know what else you try Thanks Hari
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Khairunissa Virani
Hi,
It's the first time visited your blog. The goan fish curry seems yummy. Will try it-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Welcome to the Hari Ghotra website - Thank you so much for stopping by. Let me know what you think of this dish I would love to hear what you think. Thanks Hari
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Claire
Just cooked this after finding it on Yummly. A few tweaks due to ingredients available & cooked for longer.
One of the best curries I've cooked & very authentic to Goa.
Now looking up your other receives. Thanks!-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Claire So nice to hear that you enjoyed this one! Keep in touch and let me know what you try next! Thanks for taking the time to comment Hari
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Spices Online
This is my first visit to your blog, your post made productive reading, thank you. -
Matthew Morris
It does help thank you, I've made two of your recipes now, and I've really enjoyed them...I've been using Rick Steins recipe book as a bible for the last half year...but I prefer the two recipes I've made of yours! -
Hari
Hi Matthew, this is usually a watery sauce so I don't specify because most people prefer it thicker. You can add a whole 400ml can of coconut milk and leave it to simmer so it thickens a little. Or pour in water to get the consistency you like. Does that help? Let me know how you get on. Thanks Hari -
Matthew Morris
Hello, How much water/coconut milk should you add to this?
Ryan
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