GOACOM: GOANOW - Kitchendom (March

KITCHENDOM

TAMSHEM, TIKSHEM (Red Hot Fish Curry)

Ingredients: 4 large mackerels or sardines, 15 dry red chillies (deseeded), 5 peppercorns, a pinch of cumminseeds, 5 flakes garlic (sliced) 1 cup tamarind juice, 5 kokum pieces and 1 tsp teflam seeds (pounded)

Method: Clean fish, slice and apply a little salt. Grind th next 3 ingredients to a fine paste. Combine all the remaining ingredients with the spice paste and bring to a boil. Add fish, salt to taste and cook for 5 minutes. Serve with rice.

STEAMED MACKERELS

Ingredients: 6 large mackerels (cleaned). 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice, 6 flakes garlic (sliced), 2 inch ginger (sliced) and 3 green chillies.

Method: Make two diagonal cuts on either sie of each mackerel. Apply salt and vinegar and keep aside. Fix a slice of garlic and giner in every gash that is made on the mackerel. Put half a chilli slit lengthwise into the benny of the fish. steam till done. Serve with a sprinkling of olive oil.

PINACA

Ingredients: 300 gms Goa rice, 1 coconut (grated and ground), 4 large squares of coconut and jaggery.

Method: Roast the rice over low flame till crisp. Grind it fine and set aside. Melt the jaggery, add coconut and cook till quite dry. Cool the mixture. Gradually mix rice flour (save 2 tablespoons flour) and knead till a nice dough is formed. Divide the dough into small quantities enough to make 2 inch rolls or any shapes. Sprinkle them with the remaining flour and store.

ORNA

Ingredients: 1 cup rice (soaked overnight), 1 coconut milk, 3 or 4 squares coconut, jaggery and 1/2 cup gram dal (boiled).

Method: Grind the rice to a fine paste. Add coconut milk, jaggery and a pinch of salt. Cook till it thickens. Add boiled gram dal and cook till a custard-like consistency is formed. Serve in small bowls.

BREADCRUMBS DODOL

Ingredients: 10 squares coconut jaggery, juice of 2 coconuts, 250 gms fine dry bread crumbs, 1 tbsp ghee or butter and 50 gms caju nuts (chopped).

Method: Cook jaggery and coconut juice. When the jaggery has dissolved add breadcrumbs and ghee. Stir continuously. When the dodol thickens, add nuts. When the mixture begins to leave the sides of the pan, pour it into a dish.

All the recipes for Kitchendom are found in the GOAN COOKBOOK, which is an indispensable guide on authentic Goan cuisine. The wonderful manual has been referred to daily by hundreds of housewives, Goan and non-Goan, for several years on the trot. Even their husbands peep into it once in a while. In the easy-to-follow, 96-page book, JOYCE FERNANDES explains in very simple language how a wide variety of delicious dishes can be turned out. The much sought after book has run out of print at least twice. By the time you read this, the latest edition will be seen on the bookstands.