Humhan/Goan Fish Curry

It is known as Xit-kodi among the Catholics and xit- humhan among the Hindus. No matter what you call it, fish curry is the soul of Goan cuisine. Every Goan will agree that this dish is the essence of our culinary culture. It is not a surprise that we Goans cannot live without our fish. We greet each other with, “Aayj nustya kide re?” (What fish did you get today?), instead of, “How are you?”. That itself should tell you how deeply fish is inculcated in our being. 

A simple meal of fish curry rice will satisfy any Goan soul. If that was not enough, the left over curry is simmered down and thickened and eaten the next day (kalchi kodi) with undo (bread). I personally like my left over fish curry over a fried egg with a warm Goan poee!

Just the process of making fish curry brings back so many fond memories! The ordeal would start early in the morning when the men in the house would go to the market to bring fish. There were times when we would go on the beach at sunrise for the fresh catch of the day! In the mean time, the coconut was husked and broken as I would eagerly wait for the coconut water to quench my thirst on a hot summer day! Then the women of the house scrapped the coconut on an adoli (traditional scrapping/cutting tool). I remember sitting next to the women of my house wanting to help with the process! It wasn’t as easy as they made it seem. Once, the fish would arrive, the rogdo (traditional grinding stone) was cleaned and prepared to grind the masala. I would sit next to it, eagerly waiting for them to finish grinding the masala so that I could clean the rogdo after the masala was ground. The idea of scooping water out from it using a little coconut shell (kotti) was so exciting as a kid! Then the actual process of making the curry would begin! The aroma of the tempering, the sound of the masala hitting the hot oil, the visual of the fish bubbling in this beautiful yellow curry! Ah, splendid! In the end, we would all sit together and relish this meal over some fun conversations and hearty laughs.  

Now, you would think that every fish is prepared the same way. It is just fish curry, right? How complicated can it be? Well, it is not that simple. My mom would scream bloody murder if she found out how I mistreat my fish and God forbid add an ingredient that is not meant to go in a certain type of fish curry. So I decided to sit with her one day and jot down the “right way” of cooking fish curry.

Our ancestors have mastered which spice goes well with which fish and hence the spice paste for every fish curry is different. Be it the lightly spiced prawns curry or the fiery bangda curry! If you have tasted the two and know the difference, you know that they were doing something right! So, here is my humble attempt to preserve our heritage and the knowledge of our Goan ancestors who definitely knew their fish curry pastes!  

P.S. A very special thanks to Shalma Madkaikar for allowing me to use her pictures for this post. 

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Serving: 10-15 people

The general process of making fish curry is:

• Grind all the ingredients for the paste together in a mixture, adding water as needed. When the paste is ground on a stone (rogdo), a few grains of rice were added as a thickening agent. Ensure that the paste is of fine consistency and not watery.
• Heat about 2 tablespoons of coconut or any other oil in a pan.
• Add the tempering per the recipe you are following.
• If you are adding an extra souring agent like raw mango, aambade (hog plums) or bimbla, or vegetables like okra or radish, add it after the tempering with a little water (1/4 cup) and let it half cook. 
• Add the paste and add water as/if needed per the consistency you want the curry to be (usually around 2-3 cups). Let the mixture come to a boil.
• Add the cleaned fish pieces.
• Add solaam/kokum, teflam or tamarind, if the recipe calls for it.
• Add salt and bring the curry to a boil.
• Stir with a light hand occasionally.

Tips:

• Use around 1/2 kg fish and 1/4 kg shrimp/clams for the following recipes.
• All fish is to be cleaned, washed, cut into small pieces and marinated with around 1 tablespoon of sea salt. 
• The dry red chilies should be a medium spiced variety. You can adjust the amount of red chilies per your spice tolerance.
• When adding onion for tempering, make sure it browns before you carry on to the next step.

Fish:  Paplet (Promfret)/ Visvon (Kingfish,Surmai)/ Karbat (Mix Ocean Fish)/ Saangta/ Pedi/ Khaapi/ Vellyo

Ingredients for the paste:

• 1 full Coconut 
• 25 Dry red chilies
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper corns
• 1/4 teaspoon Rice grains

For Tempering:

• Heat ½ tablespoon oil
• Add ½ finely chopped medium sized onion and 5 slit green chilies

Extra:

• Salt to taste
• 5 kokum

  

Fish:  Nhayche Nustem (River fish)/ Prawns/ Clams/ Murdoshi/ Kaalo/Sangtaam

Ingredients for the paste:

• 1 full Coconut 
• 25 Dry red chilies
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1 tablespoon Coriander seed
• 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper corns
• 1/4 teaspoon Rice grains

For Tempering:

• Heat ½ tablespoon oil
• Add ½ finely chopped medium sized onion and 5 slit green chilies

Extra:

• Salt to taste
• 5 kokum

Note:

For prawns/clams only: you can add ½ cup of raw mango pieces, bimblam, hog plums (aambade), okra/lady finger (bhende) or Radish (mulo)

Fish:  Karli

Ingredients for the paste:

• 1 full Coconut 
• 35 Dry red chilies
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper corns
• 1/4 teaspoon Rice grains

For Tempering:

• Heat ½ tablespoon oil
• Add 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds and 7 green chilies cut into medium sized pieces

Extra:

• 15 Tefla crushed lightly to bring out the aroma
• Salt to taste
• 10 kokum

Fish:  Bangde (Mackerel)/ Talle (Sardines)

Ingredients for the paste:

• 1 full Coconut 
• 35 Dry red chilies
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper corns
• 1/4 teaspoon Rice grains

• 2 inch Tamarind

For Tempering:

• Heat ½ tablespoon oil
• Add 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds and 7 green chilies cut into medium sized pieces

Extra:

• 15 Tefla crushed lightly to bring out the aroma
• Salt to taste
• 10 kokum