Simple Crab Masala

Going to the market on Sundays to buy fish and vegetables is a ritual for Milo and me and we both enjoy it. I love to go to the fish market and I go mad looking at the variety of fish there.

Last Sunday as usual we went to the fish market and I got 4 different types of fish and we headed out. At the exit, Milo saw some crabs and he wanted me to buy them. I didn’t want to buy them since I had already picked 4 types of fishes and this would be too much for 3 of us (in laws and I). Milo has quit eating fish but still forces me to buy a variety.  He kept persuading me to buy those crabs. I finally got tempted, went in and bought them and this is the simplest crab masala I made and my FIL and I relished it. Here is the recipe….

Ingredients –

3 big crabs cleaned,

1 onion thinly sliced,

4 to 5 flakes garlic,

2 tsp red chili powder,

½ tsp turmeric powder,

2 tsp oil,

Salt to taste,

Grind to a smooth paste the following ingredients –

6 to 7 garlic flakes,

A piece of ginger,

A handful coriander leaves,

A piece of tamarind

Method –

Heat oil in a pan and fry garlic till light brown. Add turmeric powder and red chili powder and onions and fry for a minute or 2.

Add the ground paste and fry for a minute.

Now add crabs, salt and little water. Mix well cover and cook till the crabs are done.

Advertisement

Goan Prawns and Drumsticks Curry

Here is an authentic goan prawn’s curry I made for Sunday lunch. As I mentioned in my previous fish curry posts- give this curry a standing time for the prawn taste to seep into the curry. You can replace drumsticks with ladyfingers or brinjals or radish or turnips or raw mango. It tastes amazing.

Ingredients-

1 cup shelled prawns,

3 drumsticks cut into pieces,

1 medium sized grated coconut,

12 dry red chilies (I used the thin long variety called Bedgye),

8 dry red goan chilies (optional),

1 tsp coriander seeds,

5 cloves of garlic,

7 to 8 fenugreek seeds,

5 to 6 pepper corns,

½ tsp turmeric powder,

3 tsp tamarind extract,

1/4^th piece of onion,

1 green chili,

3/4^th onion finely chopped,

2 tsp oil,

Salt to taste,

Water

Method –

Apply little salt to the prawns are keep them aside.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds and red chilies separately and keep them aside.

Grind together coconut, red chilies, coriander seeds, and garlic, 1/4th piece of onion, turmeric powder, tamarind extract, pepper corns and green chili with sufficient water to a very fine paste.

Now add fenugreek seeds and grind for 2 to3 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan and fry finely chopped onion till brown.

Add drumsticks and water and little salt. Allow the drumsticks to cook.

Add prawns and cook for another 2 minutes.

Now add the ground masala and adjust water and salt.

Allow the curry to boil for 5 to 6 minutes.

Serve with hot rice.

Bombay Ducks (Bombil) Curry

This is a very tasty and easy method of fish curry specially made out of Bombay Ducks. The recipe was shared with me by my colleague and friend Supriya. I guess it’s a Maharashtrian preparation. When I made this for the first time, I did not have coriander leaves. I tried it again with the leaves and the taste was amazing. It’s a little spicy curry which goes well with rice.

You can also try this curry with prawns.

Ingredients-

12 pieces ofBombayducks,

8 cloves of garlic,

5 pieces of dried kokum,

2 to 3 tsp red chili powder,

½ tsp coriander powder,

1/4^th tsp garam masala powder,

½ tsp turmeric powder,

2 tsp oil,

Water,

Salt to taste

Grind to a fine paste the following –

10 cloves of garlic,

A piece of ginger,

2 green chilies,

A handful coriander leaves (optional),

1/4^th cup water

 Method –

Wash the fish well, apply salt and keep aside,

Heat oil in a pan and fry crushed garlic till light brown.

Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder and stir well.

Immediately add 2 cups of water (Take care not to burn the masalas).

Add the ground paste, salt and kokum pieces and let it boil thoroughly.

Adjust salt and addBombayducks.

Cover the pan with a lid and allow the fish to cook. This will take approximately 4 to 5 minutes.

Do not stir the curry else the fish will break.

Serve hot with steam rice.

Masala Fish (oil free)

This is one type of fish that is enjoyed by all at my place. The good thing about this preparation is it is oil free and does not take a lot of time to cook. Big fish fillets specially King Fish or Ravas (salmon) is used in this.  I shared this recipe with my friend Ivy and she promised to give me a snicker if her kids like this preparation. I indeed got one. 🙂

I got the original recipe from Shilpa of Aayis Recipes. Thanks Shilpa!!

Green Masala Fish

Ingredients –

1 fish fillets (preferably king fish),

Salt to taste.

For the green masala –

A handful of coriander leaves,

A handful of mint leaves,

2 green chilies,

12 pods of garlic,

A piece of ginger,

½ tsp cumin seeds,

Juice of 1 lemon,

1 tsp grated coconut (optional),

Salt to taste

Method-

Wash the fish fillets, apply salt and keep aside.

Grind together coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chilies, garlic, ginger, cumin seeds and coconut with very little water.

Mix in the lemon juice and little salt.

Apply this paste to the fish fillets and let it marinate for 1 to 2 hours.

Wash the blender with a cup of water and mix in the remaining masala and keep this masala water aside.

Take a frying pan, keep the fish fillets in the pan and pour the masala water all around the fish. Do not pour the water on the fish.

The water should be just enough to cover the fish from the sides. It should not cover the top layer of the fish.

Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook on a slow flame.

After approx 5 minutes, open the lid and keep the flam on high and allow the water to dry up.

The fish is ready. No need to turn it. Serve with some fresh salads.

Red Masala Fish

Ingredients –

2 fish fillets (preferably king fish),

Salt to taste.

For the red masala –

2 tsp red chili powder,

2 tsp coriander seeds powder,

1/4^th tsp turmeric powder,

A pinch of fenugreek seeds,

A small piece of tamrind,

12 pods of garlic,

A piece of ginger,

4 to 5 curry leaves

Salt to taste

Method-

Wash the fish fillets, apply salt and keep aside.

Grind together red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric, fenugreek, garlic, ginger and tamarind with very little water.

Mix curry leaves in the ground masala.

Apply this paste to the fish fillets and let it marinate for 1 to 2 hours.

Wash the blender with a cup of water and mix in the remaining masala and keep this masala water aside.

Take a frying pan, keep the fish fillet in the pan and pour the masala water all around the fish. Do not pour the water on the fish.

The water should be just enough to cover the fish from the sides. It should not cover the top layer of the fish.

Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook on a slow flame.

After approx 5 minutes, open the lid and keep the flam on high and allow the water to dry up.

The fish is ready. No need to turn it. Serve with some fresh salads.

Tarlyache Amat Thikat (Sour Spicy Sardines)

This one is for spicy food lovers, spicy sour fish gravy. In Konkani amat means sour and thikat means pungent. I ate this first at my Aunt’s house (mom’s sister). She used to make this with sardines or mackerels and it was my cousin Ashas all time favorite.

You need to use dry red chilies that impart more color and should be less spicy like kashmiri or bedgi.

This curry tastes good after 7 to 8 hours of standing time.

Ingredients- 

12 sardines or 7 to 8 pieces of mackerels,

15 to 18 dry red chilies (Kashmiri or Bedgi),

10 garlic flakes,

½ tsp turmeric powder,

7 to 8 kokum,

7 to 8 tepla,

Salt to taste,

Water

Method- 

Wash and clean sardines, apply salt and keep aside.

Soak red chilies in hot water for 20 minutes.

Grind these soaked red chilies with garlic and turmeric with water to a very fine paste.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan and pour this masala.

Add sufficient water to make the gravy.

Throw in the Kokum, lightly pounded tepla and salt.

Let the masala get cooked well. Adjust salt.

Add more kokum if required.

Once the masala is fully cooked, add sardines and let it cook for 5 to 10 minutes without stirring.

Serve hot with rice.

Hirvya Masalyache Bombil (Bombay ducks in green gravy)

Ingredients- 

10 freshBombayducks (bombil) apply salt and turmeric powder,

2 tbsp dry grated coconut,

2 tbsp fresh grated coconut,

1 medium sized onion,

4 to 5 green chilies (as per you taste),

Hand full of coriander leaves,

6 cloves of garlic,

1” piece of ginger,

1 tsp jeera,

5 to 6 kokum petals

Water,

Salt,

3 tsp oil

Method- 

Dry roast dry and fresh coconut till light brown.

Keep the entire onion in a gas burner till the outer skin burns. Click here for more details.

Blend together roasted coconut with peeled and washed onion, green chilies, coriander leaves, ginger, garlic and jeera to a fine paste.

Heat oil a deep bottomed pan and fry this ground masala for 5 to 6 mins.

Add kokum, salt and water and bring it to a boil.

Add fish and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Do not stir once you put the fish else it will break.

Serve hot with rice or chapattis.

Stuffed Mackerels

I first tasted this fish at the mess of a camp which I attended long time back. It tasted very nice. One of my friends who also attended with me gave me this recipe. The masala should be made a little pungent. She also said that we can use the same masala for fish cutlets (boil fish in salt water, debone it, mix with this masala and make cutlets). I will try these cutlets one day.

Any leftover masala can be refrigerated for a week.

Ingredients- 

2 medium sized washed and cleaned mackerels,

1/4^th cup freshly grated coconut,

6 cloves of garlic,

1” ginger,

1 tsp coriander seeds,

2 cloves,

4 peppercorns,

1 small piece of cinnamon,

6 to 7 dry red chilies,

2 green chilies,

1/4^th tsp turmeric powder,

3 tsp tamarind extract,

1 small onion finely chopped,

Salt to taste,

4 tsp fine semolina (rava),

Oil 

Method- 

Make deep vertical slits in the mackerel like a pocket to stuff them. Also make horizontal cuts on the bone part of the mackerel.

Apply salt and keep aside.

Grind coconut, garlic, ginger, coriander seeds, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, red and green chilies, turmeric powder and tamarind extract to a fine paste.

Mix in the finely chopped onion and salt in the ground masala.

Wash the mackerels with water and pat them dry.

Stuff this masala in the mackerels and apply some on the outer sides of the mackerel.

Let it marinade for 2 to 3 hours.

Coat it with fine semolina and shallow fry with little oil till on both the sides.

Fish Broth

I love to cook for my 9 months old daughter. I enjoy watching her eat new food. She likes to eat fish, so we see to it that we give her fish on every Sunday. We introduced fish in her diet when she was 6 months old. Till now we have given her only white fish as it is a little easy to digest. Be very careful about deboning the fish when feeding.

Ingredients –

I piece of any white fish (I have used lady fish in this recipe),

1 small clove garlic,

1 tsp finely chopped onion,

1 tsp finely chopped tomatoes,

1 pinch pepper powder,

½ tsp butter/ghee,

1 pinch turmeric,

1 cup water,

Salt to taste

 Method –

Clean the fish and apply very little salt and turmeric and keep it aside for 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat butter/ghee in a small pan. Fry finely chopped garlic, onion and tomatoes for ½ a minute.

All 1 cup water to this, add the fish, pepper powder and adjust salt. Let it boil till fish gets cooked completely.

Allow it to cool and debone the fish and put the pieces back in the broth. Mash it up lightly and serve warm.

Goan fish curry (with onion)

Goans mostly eat fish curry and rice. The masala for fish curry differs slightly depending on the type of fish. That is for sweet water fish like lady fish (muddoshi), silver fish (vellyo), pomfret (paplet), mullets (shevto) etc, onion is used. And for strong flavored fish like king fish, mackerel, sword fish, sardines etc, saichin pepper (teppla) is used.

Fish curry always taste good if consumed after 3 to 4 hrs after cooking – all the fish taste needs to get dissolved in the curry.

I can never remember the ingredients that go in this, so I always have to call up my mom in Goa for the same. To avoid this I have posted this recipe on our blog. 

Ingredients-

2 cups freshly grated coconut

1/4^th tsp turmeric powder

8 to 10 dried red chilies (I use bedgie and short goan chilies)

2 green chilies,

4 small garlic pods

1/4^th onion roughly chopped

2 tsp coriander seeds

8 to 10 methi seeds

1 small onion finely chopped

1 raw mango

2 tsp oil

Any white fish (I used 14 small sized lady fish)

Salt

Method –

Clean fish and apply salt and keep aside.

Cut raw mango into medium sized pieces, apply salt and keep aside.

Heat 1 tsp oil and fry methi seeds and keep aside.

In the same oil fry coriander seeds and red chilies for 2 minutes.

Now grind fried coriander seeds, red chilies, green chilies, coconut, turmeric, garlic, 1/4^th onion with little water to a fine paste.

Lastly add fried methi seeds and grind for 2 minutes.

Heat 1 tsp oil and fry finely chopped onion till brown. Add ground masala with sufficient water, add salt and mango pieces and let it boil thoroughly. Adjust salt. Lastly add fish and let the fish cook. Do not stir once you add the fish. Serve hot with rice and fried fish.

P.S – If you do not have raw mangoes then use a very small ball of tamarind while grinding the masala.

Vellyachi Potli

 

This is an amazing recipe of fish baked with coconut and onion, wrapped in a banana leaf to form a bag (potli in Konkani). Vellyo in Goa means Silver Fish. Silver fish are of the size of an index finger. This is my Moms creation.

 Ingredients- 

25 silver fish,

2 big onions cut lengthwise,

1 cup grated coconut,

¼ tsp turmeric powder,

2 to 3 tsp red chilly powder,

3 to 4 green chilies,

Dry mango pieces or tamarind pulp,

2 tsp oil,

Salt to taste

Method- 

Clean silver fish apply salt and keep aside.

Heat oil in heavy bottomed pan and fry onions, green chilies for 4 to 5 minutes.

Add coconut, turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt and dry mango pieces or tamarind pulp.

Mix well and add fish. Switch off the gas and let it cool for sometime.

Wrap the fish mix along with the water in a banana leaf to form a small tight packet (potli).

Microwave on high for 15 to 20 minutes.

P.S Do not add water to the masala.