Pictures from a Goan Kitchen

I snuck up on my mom making lunch, and this is what I found:

An assortment of fried fish - the flat slices are Kingfish, Visvon or Surmai. The others are pieces of Kalli, a fih available in Mumbai as well - very bony but flavourful. The The Spice Paste used is deceptively simple - tumeric and chilli powder in equal quantities, and salt. After marinating the fish, they are dusted with Semolina and shallow fried.

Clams, or thisra, are one of the more popular shellfish in Goa. Here, they have been prepared with lightly fried onion, green chilli, freshly grated coconut and tamarind in sukke, which literally means "dry". The bigger brothers of the

clams, like mussels (shinanyo) and oysters (kalva) are also rava fried.

And the staple - fish curry rice, or sheeth humon. The base of a curry is coconut, ground to a paste with turmeric, pepppercorns, tamarind and chilli. Chopped onions are either fried or boiled till translucent, and then the paste is allowed to boil with the fish. This is prawn curry. Prawns in curry always come with sidekicks - raw mangoes, okra, starfruit - depending on the reason. Here, mom used drumsticks. Smaller prawns are supposed to lend a greater flavour to the curry.

From the frying pan into the fire

My last installment on Goan restaurants, for now, and it's all about fried fish. Fried fish seems like the easiest thing to do, but its very tricky. You first have to get yourself a fresh fish, because even slightly stale fish stand out. The fish have to be cooked enough so that the crust is crunchy but the fish inside is not overdone. You can't overdo the spices also - because the taste of the fish should be discernible. Unless you are a true fish eater, it's difficult to understand that every fish has its own distinct taste and texture.

The quest for good fried fish brings me to two restaurants which should only be gone to for the fish. After all, this is not a blog about "ambience". :)

Kamalabai at Mapusa (left from the Hanuman Temple and a 5 minute drive, keep your eye out for the sign or ask any taxi driver) sees a good lunch crowd for the VFM Fish Curry Rice (Rs. 20). At night, it attracts a lot of drunkards. A good time is about 8pm. The owners of Kamalabai assure the freshest catch of the day - no surprise, as they themselves own a fishing trawler. It's a pilgrimage spot every time I come to Goa, this time, since it was already nearing 9, we chose to go to Alisha Bar and Restaurant. Alisha is closer to Panjim, located just across the Mandovi Bridge, opposite the Vidhan Sabha. Obviously, there are huge crowds during assembly time. But otherwise there is a flight of mud steps down and steps up to a verandah restaurant, from where there's is a beautiful view of Panjim.

And yes, some fancy looking prawns. These are with the shells and legs intact. I prefer it that way, though I'm sure you can get yours cleaned up. The prawns turned out a little tough.

I am told that red snapper (tamuso) isn't really high up on the priority list of most Goans. It's an uneconomical fish to buy wholesale, as it has a huge unusable abdominal portion. I am a great fan of its meaty taste. It tends to get very tough when fried but the guys at Alisha did a good job.

Viva Viva Panjim!

When it’s dinner time, one of the best restaurants to get the Goan experience is the heritage home of Linda Aunty. Linda D’Souza is the proprietor of Viva Panjim, behind the Mary Immaculate School, on 31st January Road. Its slightly off the road, a small lane off 31st January Road takes you to the cheery venue. A board on the main road will help you find your way. Linda Aunty is always smiling, and the waiters are always helpful. The service can sometimes be painfully slow, but if you’re in a hurry, there’s no point going there anyway. Avoid sitting in the AC room, the best place to sit is outside, under the stars. Order your drink, ask what’s the catch of the day and order it rava fried. Ask the waiter for a bowl of red chutney on the side, which is the rechado masala paste (pronounced reshaad). Rechado masala can also be smeared on your fish and then fried, which is also good, but I tend to think it ruins the taste of the fish. If you want to try rechado fry, ask for mackerels rechado. Mackerels, being oily fish, have a bit of an odour of their own which is masked quite well with the masala. If you aren’t used to eating fish, however, be wary about the mackerel because it’s a bit of an acquired taste.

When I’m at Viva Panjim, there’s nothing I like better than a vodka lime cordial and some fresh red snapper (tamuso) rava fried. You can also have the calamari (squid), white snapper (morso) and crabs. Fried crabs always seem to absorb too much oil and so I’m not a big fan. I prefer crab masala in a thick coconut-onion gravy.

This is usually enough for me, but if you want the whole hog, as a main course the Chicken Xacuti (pronounced Shakoothi) is spicy and delicious. Xacuti is the most popular of Goan gravies – roasted onion and coconut is pasted along with a generous helping of garlic, cloves, peppercorns and coriander seeds. The meat is then cooked in the paste – upon cooking, the paste becomes a darkish brown and acquires a thick, creamy texture on account of the coconut. Xacuti is made with Chicken, Mutton and in its vegetarian avatar with kabuli chana, masoor, or (my favourite) monsoon mushrooms (almi) is called Thonak. The best accompaniment to Xacuti is Unno or Pao, which are brought piping hot to your table at Viva Panjim, almost straight out of the oven. The meat doesn’t seem to have been cooked in the Xacuti paste and that’s my only grouse against it, really.

For the people with cast iron stomachs, you can try a Vindaloo. Vindaloo is traditionally made from a paste of red chilies and vinegar – the red chilies are set to soak in the vinegar overnight and are then pasted on a stone. Spicy is an understatement. Ask for less gravy because there’s no way you’re going to eat that spice paste anyway. Vindaloo is best had with rice and lots and lots of water.

There’s never any rush at Viva Panjim, it opens real early (about 6pm) for dinner and it’s a great place to chatter away with old friends or sip a beer while reading a book.

Varathameen

INA Market has four or five specialty Malayali eating joints. I didn't eat this fried fish. I was on the way back from some satisfying appams, fish curry and beef fry that I saw this and wished I was not so stuffed.

INA: Ivide Nursummar Alayunnu. (Nurses roam here.)