Roos Omlet – Goan style

As typed by Milo…

Mapusa my home town is a well known place in Goa for its authentic Goan style shopping offerings. Crowded Friday markets offering everything one would need, from herbs, spices, masalas to home made Goan sannas, dos, bebinca etc.

After tiring marathon shopping sprees in the markets nothing like a filling roos omlet at one of Mapusa’s famous cafe’s (by the side of the Taxi Stand).

We currently live far away from Mapusa, but recollecting its memories triggers sweet nostalgia. This post is dedicated to one such memory.

 

Mushroom Xacuti

Ingredients –

1 packet of button mushrooms cleaned and chopped,

1 cup freshly grated coconut,

2 tsp dry grated coconut,

1 small onion finely chopped,

1 small onion thinly sliced,

5 to 6 cloves garlic,

1 piece of ginger,

1 tsp coriander powder,

½ tsp turmeric powder,

1 tsp red chili powder,

1 to 2 tsps. My mom’s garam masala powder or any other garam masala,

2 to 3 tsp tamarind extract,

Salt to taste,

2 tsp oil,

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method –

Heat 1 tsp oil in a heavy bottom pan and fry thinly sliced onions till golden brown.

Add the cut ginger pieces and garlic to the onions and fry for a while.

Add freshly grated coconut to the onions and continue frying till nutty brown color.

Mix in the dry grated coconut and fry for a minute or 2.

Add all the spices to the coconut mixture fry for a minute and switch off the gas, allow it to cool.

Grind the onion coconut mix with tamarind extract and little water to a smooth paste. Keep aside.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry the finely chopped onions for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and salt to the onion and fry for another minute or 2.

Mix in the ground masala, salt and sufficient water to make gravy.

Let the gray boil for 4 to 5 minutes. Adjust salt and garnish with coriander leaves.

Xacuti always tastes better the next day.

 

To make an Omelet, beat 2 eggs with salt and red chili powder. Mix in finely chopped onion, tomatoes and coriander leaves.

Heat a frying pan with little oil, pour the egg mixture in the pan. Cover the pan with a lid.

Gently flip the omelet and let it cook on the other side. Once dome remove it in a plate and pour Xacuti (roos) over the omelet.

Serve with bread.

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Goan/Konkan Style Eggplant/Brinjal Bharta (Vaingyan che Bharit)

Here is another Goan/Konkan bartha recipe that my Mom makes out of the Goan variety of big fat round purple brinjals. These brinjals are available in Goa only during season (I think Jan-Feb) and have a very good taste. The brinjal in this recipe should be cooked over direct flame or can be grilled or can be placed on a griddle. This bharta has a mild taste so should be served as an accompaniment with rice and It will not go well with chapattis.

Ingredients-

1 large brinjal,

1 large onion finely chopped,

1 small tomato finely chopped,

1 green chili finely chopped,

Few strands of coriander leaves,

Salt to taste

Method –

Wash the brinjal and smear little oil on the surface of the brinjal. Place it on a griddle and cover it fully with a vessel. Keep the griddle on a low flame. At frequent intervals turn the sides of the brinjal.

Follow the above step till the entire brinjal is cooked thoroughly. Allow it to cool.

Peel the brinjal completely. Add salt to the flesh and mix well. Mix in all the other ingredients and serve.

Radish Greens Salad

Hello everyone!!! I am back after a long time…. We were on a small vacation to Goa the whole last week. We all had an amazing time there. Ate a lot of goodies prepared by my Mom and not to forget the cakes of Goan bakeries :-). So my next couple of recipes will be the ones made by my Mom on our visit there. So here is a Radish Greens Salad recipe for you. It’s a very simple salad made in most of the Goan households. Use very tender Radish leaves to make this. (Choose the leaves whose radish is very small and tender). So off to the recipe…

Ingredients-

15 to 20 radish leaves,

1 onion,

1 green chili,

2 tsp lime juice,

2 tsp grated coconut (optional)

Salt to taste

Method-

Finely chop radish leaves, onion and green chili.

Add lime juice, salt and coconut and mix well.

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.

Chicken Xacuti

This is another well known chicken curry of Goa pronounced as Shakuti. It is generally made on Sundays in most of the Goan households and is eaten with pao (bread) and with rice.

The garam masala that I have used in this is my mom’s home made masala. Click here for the recipe. You can use any store brought garam masala but the taste differs. You can also make ‘roos omlet’ (another well known Goan delicacy) of the left over curry by just making an omlet of an egg,  soak it with this chicken curry and serve it stuffed in a Goan poli (famous bread of Goa). So here is the recipe of Chicken Xacuti.

Ingredients –

1 kg chicken cut into medium sized pieces,

2 onions finely chopped,

2 tomatoes finely chopped,

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste,

Juice of 1 lime,

1/4^th tsp turmeric powder,

1 bay leaf,

2 green chilies,

Coriander leaves,

5 tsp oil

To grind-

2 cups grated coconut,

1 big onion cut lengthwise,

4 cloves,

6 peppercorns,

A small piece of cinnamon,

4 tsp garam masala powder,

2 tsp red chili powder,

2 tsp oil

Method –

Marinate the chicken pieces with ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, lime juice and salt for a minimum 1 to 2 hours.

Heat oil in a pan and fry lengthwise cut onions till golden brown. Add coconut and keep frying till the mixture turns dry and light brown in color.

Add cloves, pepper and cinnamon and fry for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Once cooled grind this with garam masala and red chili powder to a very smooth paste with sufficient water.

Keep this masala aside.

In a deep bottomed pan heat oil and fry bay leaves and slit green chilies for half a minute.

Add finely cut onion and fry for 5 to 6 minutes till onion gets cooked. Now add tomatoes and fry well till tomatoes are done.

Add chicken pieces to this, mix well and cover it with a lid.

When chicken is half cooked, add the ground masala. Adjust salt.

Cover and cook till chicken is done.
Garnish with coriander leaves and add more lime juice if required.

Serve hot with pao or chapattis, or plain rice.

Chanyacho Roos (Green Peas Curry)

 

This is a Goan delicacy made with green peas and ground coconut. Green Peas are called as chanae and the gravy is called as roos in Konkani. These are not the fresh/frozen green peas that we get in season. You need to use dried green peas. This is Milo’s favorite Goan dish. We both like to eat it with hot idlis. We see to it that we eat this whenever we visit Goa or when my mom visits us. The garam masala that I have used in this is my mom’s home made masala. I will post the recipe for this very soon. You can use any store brought garam masala but the taste differs. So if you want authentic chanya cho roos then wait till I post my moms garam masala recipe.

Ingredients-

3 cups dried green peas soaked overnight in sufficient water,

2 cups freshly grated coconut,

1 big onion chopped lengthwise,

1 small tomato chopped,

6 cloves of garlic,

1” piece of ginger,

5 cloves,

7 to 8 peppercorns,

1 small piece of cinnamon,

2 tsp garam masala,

1 big tomato cut into 4 pieces,

Coriander leaves to garnish,

2 tsp oil,

Salt to taste

Method-

Pressure cook green peas for just one whistle. They should not be overcooked. Keep it aside.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and fry onions till light brown.

Add the grated coconut, ginger, garlic, cloves, pepper and cinnamon to the pan and fry well by keeping the flame very low.

The onion coconut mixture should become dry after frying and the color should be light brown.

Add the small chopped tomato and fry for 2 minutes.

Allow it to cool and grind to a very fine paste with sufficient water and garam masala powder.

Add the ground masala to the cooked green peas.

Add salt and more water if required and let the masala cook well.

Add the big pieces of tomato and coriander leaves.

Cook the tomatoes till they are little soft but are intact.

Serve hot with chapattis, rice, idli or pao.

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.

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.

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.