Mumbai Style Fish Curry

Long weekends are best spent with good friends. This last weekend was one and I visited friends in NY as well as in Edgewater NJ and with a bit of luck was able to taste authentic Mumbai cuisine from veteran cook Usha Kothari who is visiting her children. I called ahead to ask if I could stop by and was invited to stay for lunch by my hospitable friends who immediately ran to the local Asian store to pick up fresh fish. I obliged happily by showing up with an appetite and in less than an hour, a vast quantity of shrimp was de veined and the Pomfret cleaned. Two delicious curries, very different in flavor and appearance were conjured up rapidly with minimum fuss and great speed. I am convinced that the older generation have an edge when it comes to ethnic food - there is confidence and a natural instinct for great flavor that is unrivaled, that comes from years of experience. Either way it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon and the memory of the taste lingers on...

Recipe for Pomfret in a green coconut curry:

2 medium Pomfret cut into steaks

3 cups grated coconut

2 cups cilantro

2 green chilies

1 tbsp uncooked rice or rice flour

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp asafetida

7-8 cloves of garlic

2 cups coconut milk

salt to taste

1. Grind the coconut, cilantro, chilies and garlic with the rice ( if using rice grains) to a thick paste.

2. Pour the mixture into a large saute pan and add in the turmeric and asafetida. Mix well and add in the fish. Stir over medium heat till the fish is cooked( approximately 10 minutes).

3. Add in the coconut milk and whisk in the rice flour at this point.

4. Serve hot over boiled rice.

To be continued.....next up -Shrimp in a red curry, Mumbai style