We have exciting new classes on our course calendar this Spring and new €25 demonstrations.  

 

I have just got back from my fourth visit to Goa and had a wonderful two weeks of vibrant flavours and deadly cocktails. Food at our friend Edwin Baretto's beach shack is fresh, chilli hot and cooked in the simplest of environments. It is extraordinary how sophisticated the menu is with a range of over seventy Indian, tandori and Chinese dishes.
 
The fish in this part of the world is amazing, baby shark, pomfret, red snapper and kingfish all straight from the Arabian Sea and caught daily by local fishermen. It is traditionally eaten by the Goan's as part of 'fish curry rice' and is consumed for breakfast, lunch and dinner! At Edwin's shack the friendly Nepalese chef Sonu cooks it in the tandor. He is also brilliant at making other traditional Goan dishes xacuti (a super hot curry of fish or chicken) pork vindalho and shark amottik. To drink there are great freshly squeezed juices, surprisingly palatable Indian wines especially the Cabernet Sauvignon, but my favourite is the lunch time pina colada or three!
 
Our weekly food shopping trip to the local markets in Margao are always one of the highlights with stalls piled high with an array of fish, fruit, vegetables spices and every conceivable household item. This year we found Indian chorizo, which is extremely spicy and the legacy of 400 years of Portugese colonisation.
 
We visited Kerala, deep in Southern India for a few days the food is more aromatic, less fiery and uses lots of coconut, tamarind and ginger in dishes like fish molee with delicious floppy rice cakes. We took a backwater tour with scrumptious vegetarian curry lunch served on a banana leaves with roti and washed down with the ubiquitous Indian beer of choice Kingfisher. All in all a wonderful holiday and to celebrate one of my favourite recipes courtesy of Sunil Vijayakar, Goan prawn curry.
 

 

1.5 kg raw tiger prawns
3tbs sunflower oil
3 onions finely chopped
6 garlic cloves crushed
1.5 tbs fresh ginger
2 red chillies, finely sliced
3/4 tsp ground tumeric
3 tsp ground coriander
11/2 tsp chilli powder
3tsp ground cumin 1.5 tbs tamarind paste
300ml coconut milk
1.5 tsp jaggery or brown sugar
450ml water
3 tbs fresh coriander leaves torn
Lime wedges to garnish

1.   Heat the oil, add the onions and cook until soft, add the ginger, garlic and fresh chilli, fry for a couple of minutes.
 
2.   Add the dry spices; tumeric coriander chilli and cumin, stir fry for another two minutes taking care not to allow them to burn.
 
3.   Add the tamarind paste, coconut milk and water bring to the boil.
 
4.   Reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the prawns cook for 4-5 minutes until cooked through.
 
Garnish with coriander and serve with lemon or lime wedges.