Ambotik( Hot and Tangy Red Curry)

Goan Ambotik is a classic recipe hailing from the west of India. Cooked traditionally with fish like shark, solefish (lepo) or prawns. ‘Ambot’ in konkani means tangy and ‘tik’ means spicy or hot. The heat of the curry comes from the dried red chillies. I like to use Kashmiri chillies which lend a lovely flavour and colour to the gravy.

Ingredients:

12 small lepo (sole fish) cleaned

1 medium onion chopped

3-4 tablespoon tamarind pulp

1 tablespoon oil

3-4 Kokum (optional)

Salt to taste

Goan toddy Vineger to taste

Sugar to balance

For the curry grind together:

6 Kashmiri chilies
1 inch Cinnamon stick
5 cloves of garlic
½ inch ginger
4 peppercorns
6 cloves
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon turmeric

Directions

Salt the fish and set aside. Sauté the onion with some oil in a pan, till it turns translucent. Add the ground paste and cook for some time, then put in the tamarind pulp and little water. Cook this till it comes to a boil. Add in the kokum and the fish and cook on medium heat till they are cooked. Finally taste and toss in some salt,sugar and vinegar to balance. Your delicious curry balanced with heat and tang is ready to be served with some steamed rice and kismur.

Mol de Peixe (Goan Fish Pickle/ Preserve)

Ingredients

1/2 Kg firm fish or large prawns

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 1/2  cups vinegar (to taste)

10 -15 kashmiri Chillies(to taste)

½ tablespoon cumin seeds

2 inch piece ginger

1 pod garlic

Oil for shallow frying

Salt to taste
Dash of sugar to balance 

Clean the fish and slice into desired size, prawns can be cleaned, and left whole. Marinate in salt and turmeric powder for 1 hour. Shallow fry the fish in oil and leave to cool.

Grind the chillies, cumin, garlic and ginger with a little vinegar,sugar and salt to a smooth paste. Fry this paste with two tablespoons of oil for a couple of minutes then add the remaining vinegar. Cook for a further 10 minutes on a low heat till paste is cooked well. Remove from heat and allow cooling. Add the fried pieces of fish to the fried paste, mix carefully to avoid breaking up the fish. Store in a sterilized jar and cover with some of the vinegar mixture.

Enjoy the mol de peixe with some steamed rice, goan curry and fresh salad of tomato,onion and lime. The piquant flavour of this authentic mol is sure to have your taste buds singing.