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.

Feijoada (Beans and Sausage Stew)

Feijoada (pronounced fay-ZWAH-da) is a delicious stew of pork and black beans that's traditionally served over rice. The word feijoada comes from the word feijão, which is Portuguese for beans. Served with rice it makes a meal that is warm, comforting, rich and hearty.

Legend has it that the feijoada was invented in the slave quarters in the plantations of Brazil. Apparently slaves cooked beans and gathered the leftover meat from the big house, parts of the pig that did not serve to the taste of their bosses. Later, the dish invented by the slaves won over all social classes, including the wealthiest. Others believe it originated in northern Portugal, a derivative of European dishes like cassoulet, the cooked stew in Madrid and the Portuguese Caldeirada. 

In Portugal, it is  cooked with white beans  or red beans and usually also includes other vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots or cabbage with the  pork or beef, chorizo, blood sausage and sausage. In Brazil, the mixture is made of black beans and various types of pork and beef, and comes to the table accompanied by farofa, white rice, steamed cabbage, sliced ​​orange, and cracklings. The goan version traditionally used salted pork and/or choricos, my recipe uses the spicy Goan sausage, onions, garlic and tomatoes to flavour the beans.

Ingredients


2 tablespoons oil

2 cups chopped onions

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

1 bay leaf

4 tablespoon tomato paste

5 large Goan Choriço sausages, skin removed

1/2 cup salted pork

2 cups kidney beans, soaked overnight and boiled

Salt and paprika to season


Directions

In a large saucepan, saute the onions and garlic in the oil. Add the bay leaves,the sausage, pork and tomato paste and cook for five minutes. Add the cooked beans and the water in which it was cooked( approx 1 cup). Season with salt and paprika. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the beans are tender, and the flavours melded together. Add water as necessary to keep the beans covered. Using the back of a ladle, mash some of the beans to add some texture to the feijoada. Reseason if needed.

Fruit Salad Custard

Ingredients

500 ml Milk

3 tbsp Vanilla custard powder

4-5 tbsp Sugar as per taste

2 1/2 cups Mixed fruits of your Choice, Chopped

1/4 Cup cashew nuts/almonds, chopped

Handful Raisins (optional)

Method

Boil the milk along with the sugar, the add the custard powder slurry ( dissolve powder in 2 tblsp water), stirring continuously till it thickens. Cool and then Refrigerate till cold. When Serving mix in the chopped fruit and nuts. Use any seasonal fruits of your choice apples,grapes,bananas,mango, pomegranate etc taste and look good in a fruit custard. Its the jeweled hue of the fruit in the creamy custard that makes this fruit salad so attractive.

Pineapple Sheera

Ingredients

1 cup semolina(rava)
2 cups milk

1/2-1 cup water (vary the amount based on how firm or soft you want the sheera to be)
1/4 cup pure ghee
1/3 -1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chopped pineapple (can be substituted with mango, or skipped altogether)
8-10 chopped cashews

20 raisins
1/2 tsp clove powder/ elaichi powder

1 pinch kesar

Salt to taste

Method

Heat a heavy bottomed pan and roast the rava for about 5 minutes on low heat Add the ghee and fry some more. When rava turns to golden brown remove from pan and keep aside. Heat the milk,water,kesar,salt and add the roasted rava in a thin stream,stirring continuosly and then cover and cook on low flame , till milk is absorbed. Now add the sugar and pineapple and finally the nuts,raisins and clove/elaichi powder. Cook for another 3-4 minutes till done and and turn off the heat. This Goan sweet is delicious had with a steaming cup of tea.

Goan Beef Cutlet

It’s a snack. But it could also be a whole meal on its own. The Goan cutlet is essentially a generous slice of beef, well marinated vinegar and goan marinade and crumb fried . The ingredients for the marinade are a matter of choice and taste. But they can make all the difference between a passable cutlet and a great cutlet (costeleta in Portuguese), as does the quality of the beef. The slice of meat then gets an egg wash before it is dusted in bread crumbs (or semolina) and fried. Served with Goan bread poie/ pao, a little gravy or ketchup and some salad, the cutlet-pao (also available in a chicken variant) is currently Goa’s most popular street food.

The costeleta is definitely of Portuguese origin. But the cutlet-pao, its local adaption, is as Goan as the chourice pao or the ross omelette.  They are dished out by the dozens from street carts that sell cutlet-pao, sausage-bread, pork chops and beef chilly fry among other takeaways, and have created a street food culture here that would be hard to beat in quality and price

Ingredients

1 kg thinly sliced Beef 

 Marinade:

1 small bunch Coriander

6-8 Green Chillies

12 to 14 cloves Garlic

½ inch Ginger

1 ball Tamarind

2 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

2 tsp Pepper Corns

2 inch Cinnamon

8-10 Cloves

3 to 4 tbsp Vinegar

½ tsp Sugar

Salt to taste

2 Eggs

Semolina to coat cutlets

Oil for frying

Wash the meat and tenderize it using a meat mallet. Place a piece of steak between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and use a meat mallet to pound it out to about 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with the rest of the steaks. Apply salt and vinegar and mix well. Grind all the other ingredients listed under marinade to a fine paste and apply the paste to the meat and marinate for 5 to 6 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

After the meat is marinated add 2 whipped eggs and mix well. Coat each meat slice with the semolina and keep aside. Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a large cast-iron skillet until hot  and fry the cutlets in batches for about 3 or 4 minutes on each side, or until well browned. Remove and drain any excess oil with a paper towel-lined plate. Serve hot in a poie/pav with a salad.

Photo Credit: Lloyd Vas

Teias de Aranhas/Gons (Goan tender coconut candy shaped like Cobwebs/Spiderwebs)

Ingredients
1 tender coconut*
200 gms Sugar
1/4 cup water
1 Sheet of white butter paper

Method

Cut the sheet of white butter paper into 4" squares. Traditionally the paper is cut with pretty snowflake designs very similar to paper doilies. Lay out on the squares a flat surface, ideally not far from the cooking area.

Remove the kernel from the coconut neatly, avoiding the thin brown skin. Cut into thin, long strips. Keep a pan on the fire with the sugar and water, when the sugar is melted add the coconut strips. Cook on a slow fire, stirring with a wooden spoon all the time till it thickens and leaves the sides of the vessels.

Working quickly, spread a spoonful of the sweet onto the small sheets of paper with a fork. Leave till it hardens. Store in an airtight container. 

 *tender coconut should be a little firm and not at the 'malai' coconut stage

Alle Belle (Goan crepes with coconut and jaggery filling)

Ingredients

1 cup refined wheat flour(Maida)

2 eggs

     1 teaspoon castor sugar

20 gms ghee

½ to ¾ cup milk(as required)

Salt to taste

1 cup fresh coconut(grated)

1/2 cup black coconut jaggery(grated)

25 gm cashew nuts (broken)

Dash of Nutmeg powder

Oil for frying crepes

Method

For the filling heat the jaggery, fresh grated coconut, nutmeg powder and cashew nuts for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow to cool. To make the batter for the crepes, mix flour, salt, eggs, castor sugar, milk and melted ghee together to form a smooth pancake batter. Keep this batter aside. Brush a flat non-stick pan with oil and heat over moderate heat. Pour a small ladle of the batter into the pan and move the pan so that the batter spreads over the whole surface as thinly as possible to form a thin crepe. Cook until firm and remove from the pan.To assemble each alle belle place a spoonful of filling on one edge of the crepe and roll it tight. Serve warm with a hot cup of tea.

Caldeirada de Peixe (layered vegetables and fish stew)

 Caldeirada, a well known Portuguese fish stew is a rustic medley of seafood and vegetables.It takes its name from the large saucepan (caldeirão) it's traditionally cooked in. Its ingredients can vary as per personal tastes, generally a combination of fish, a vegetable base, spicy notes from the garlic and pepper or green chillies, tang from the vinegar and tomatoes all brought together with some fabulous olive oil. This stew makes a great supper served with some crusty bread. Here is the Furtado family's version.

Ingredients

10 large mackerel or sardines, cleaned and head removed
4 large onions, sliced
2 large tomatoes, sliced
1 head of garlic, finely sliced
1 inch piece of ginger, finely sliced 

4 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp vinegar
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
4 bell peppers (red/green)

Green chillies/black Peppercorns to taste
salt to taste

Method

Layer a few slices of onion, bell peppers and tomato in a pan. Place 1/2 the fish over the veggies. Add another layer of onion/tomato/bell peppers and then another layer of fish. Sprinkle with the garlic,ginger and pepper or green chillies. Scatter over the remaining onion, tomato and bell peppers. Sprinkle turmeric over fish.Pour the oil, vinegar and about 6-7 tblsp water over the fish. Add salt as desired. Do not Stir, just shake the pan to move the ingredients around if required. Cook on a low heat until fish is half done.  Cook until fish is tender.

Pasta in a Goan Chorico Sauce

Serves 4

The goan spicy chorizo sausage along with tomato makes a flavorsome sauce to accompany pasta, making it a go-to meal when you need wholesome sustenance in a hurry.

Ingredients

300 gms Pasta of your choice

200 gms Goan Chorizo Sausages, sliced

1 1/2 cup tomato puree

½  cup finely  diced onion

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp Red Chilli Flakes (if you want to amp up the heat)

½ cup Cream (optional)

Salt and pepper to season

Dash of Sugar to balance

Some grated cheese and finely sliced spring onion to garnish

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the chorizo, garlic and onions for 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree, red chilli flakes, sugar and seasoning. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss in the sauce. Add cream, if using and take the pan off the flame. Serve with grated cheese and sliced spring onions.

Salame de chocolat

This delicious yet easy to make chocolate treat was introduced to us by our Portuguese colonizers. Chocolate salami is not a meat product. Its title ‘salami’ stems from its physical resemblance. Like salami, chocolate salami is shaped into a long cylinder and is sliced across into discs before serving. The dark chocolate slices are peppered with bright bits of biscuits and nuts like the white flecks of fat in salami.


Ingredients
250 grams dark cooking chocolate (chopped)
250 grams Marie biscuits/ digestive biscuits
1/2 cup walnuts (chopped and toasted)
1/2 cup almonds (sliced and toasted)
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
50 grams butter
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee powder dissolved in a tablespoon of water
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Icing sugar for dusting


Melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave oven or double boiler . Crush the biscuits roughly.Mix together all the ingredients. Shape in the form of a sausage, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate till  firm. This 'salami' can be stored in the refrigerator till ready to serve. To serve, unwrap the salami, dust with some icing sugar, slice and serve with a glass of red wine or a cup of coffee.

All you need is love, but a little chocolate, now and then doesn’t hurt-Charles M. Shultz