Recipe: Goa Seafood Curry and Cachumber Salad (Indian)

GOA SEAFOOD CURRY

"Goan food often uses quantities of dried red chilies. While their seafood curries traditionally are hot, I have removed some seeds to make it milder. Adjust the number of seeds included to suit your palate. Serve hot with plain boiled rice, lemon wedges and Cachumber salad."

2 pounds (1 kg) medium shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1 pound (500 g) catfish, red snapper or halibut, cut in 2-inch by 3-inch pieces
12 whole red dried chilies, halved with seeds removed
2 green chilies, preferably serranos
5 to 18 cloves garlic, peeled
1 piece ginger root, peeled
2 teaspoons (10 mL) each cumin seeds and poppy seeds
4 tablespoons (60 mL) raw cashew nuts
4 tablespoons (60 mL) vinegar
1 tsp (5 mL) turmeric
2 tablespoons (25 mL) oil
4 cups (1 L) finely chopped onions
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
3 teaspoons (15 mL) salt
Juice of 2 lemons
GARNISH
Lemon Wedges
Cachumber Salad (recipe follows)

Combine all ingredients from red chilies through turmeric in a blender jar (Do not use food processor). Blend to a paste with 5-6 tablespoons water. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large pan and fry onions on fairly high heat until golden, about 6-8 minutes. Add spice paste and mix well. Lower heat to medium and fry for about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently. If necessary, deglaze pan with 1 tablespoon water at a time to prevent sticking.

Stir in coconut milk and salt. Cover and bring to a boil on medium-low heat. Simmer about 5 minutes after curry comes to a boil.

Raise heat slightly and add shrimp and fish. Allow curry to come to a boil again and lower heat. Cook about 8 to 10 minutes until seafood is cooked through. Add lemon juice. Turn off fire and rest 1 hour before serving to allow flavors to infuse seafood.

CACHUMBER SALAD:
Mix together and chill: 1 ripe tomato, chopped; 1 medium onion, chopped; 2 green chilies, sliced thin, preferably serranos; and the juice of 1 lime or lemon.

Serves 8
Source: Easy Indian Cooking by Suneeta Vaswani