With the monsoons gone, Goa is generally in for a period of plenty of fish.  So this month, JOYCE FERNANDES' Goan kuzin is sizzling with some delectable fish dishes.

PEIXE DE ESCABECHE

Ingredients: 500 gms fish fillets, 2 tsps salt, olive or vegetable oil, flour, 500 gms onion (sliced round) 1 pod garlic (sliced) ¼ tsp peppercorns, 1 good bay leaf and ½ cup vinegar or less if preferred.

Method: Apply salt to fish fillet and allow to stand for an hour or so. Coat with flour and deep fry to a light brown. Heat a little oil, add onions roundels, the next 3 ingredients and fry till onion looks transparent. Cool and mix vinegar. Simmer for 2 minutes. Take a large serving dish, spread half the fried fish, top it with onion mixture. Repeat with fish and finally onion. Cover the dish firmly. Leave in the fridge for 2 or 3 days. Serve cold.

STUFFED MACKERELS

Ingredients: 8 large mackerels (cleaned), ½ tsp salt, 2 tbsps Spice Past No.6, 2 onions (chopped fine) 1 tsp tamarind mixed with 2 tsps water (use liquid), ¼ tsp sugar and oil.

Method: Slit the fish on either side, discard the centre bone leaving a bit of the tailbone. Apply salt and keep aside. Mix the next 4 ingredients and stuff the fish. Heat the oil and shallow fry the mackerels. Mackerels can also be stuffed with a mixture of chopped onion, green chillies ginger-garlic paste and vinegar or tamarind juice.

SANGTAM (CAT FISH) SUKHEM

Ingredients: 12 small cat fish, ½ tsp salt, 8 tbsp grated coconut, 6 Kashmiri chillies, 4 peppercorns, a pinch of turmeric powder, 2 tsp tamarind, 4 pieces kokum, 1 green chilli (chopped) and 1 onion (chopped).

Method: Clean the fish and apply salt. Grind all the ingredients in water except the last 3. Arrange the fish in a pan, add spice paste and the remaining ingredients. Add a little water and cook till preparations turns thick.

TISREANCHEM (CLAMS) SUKHEM

Ingredients: 100 large clams, 8 tbsps grated coconut, 3 onions (chopped), 2 green chillies (chopped fine), ½ tsp ginger-garlic paste, 2 tsps chili powder, ½ tsp turmeric, ¼ tsp jaggery (crushed), ½ cup tamarind juice and 2 tsp oil.

Method: Wash the clams well. Slit them open keeping the meat on one shell, discarding the empty halves. Mix the clams with all the ingredients, one by one and cook the mixture over a low flame, sprinkling the oil while the clams are being cooked. Add very little water if necessary. Cook till the preparation is quite dry.

The above recipes and many others figure in the cooking bible of the Goan housewife (and quite often her husband too refers to it). That fascinating book is called the
GOAN COOKBOOK
in which Joyce Fernandes has 96 pages, packed with the precious knowledge that goes into a traditional Goan cuzin.