This recipe is sent to me by Sheetal. Before any of the people who know this dish bash me for picture of entirely different dish than the authentic “Caldinha” , I request to read my introduction .
Some background of Caldinha in Sheetal’s words – “There is a Goan fish curry which is mostly made by Christians as it is something that came from Portuguese influence. It is called Fish Caldinha pronounced Kaldeen . I had never tasted it in GOA but I learnt it from my Mother-in-law specifically as the Atlantic fishes like Sea Bream or Salmon taste very nice in this gravy. What I like about it is its simplicity. This curry goes very well with these Atlantic fishes as the Atlantic fish are sweet in nature”.
I read the recipe and for some reason, I wanted to try it when I bought the salmon the following week. Even though Sheetal had mentioned it was a gravy dish(which I had overlooked), I interpreted it as a dry side dish. Since I wanted to cook it immediately, instead of clarifying my doubt with her, I just went ahead and tried it. We both absolutely loved the dish. Then the next day I asked Sheetal for clarification. She sent me the pictures of the dish which I have posted below.
I thought I would try it again and then post it here. But because of the “tomato disease” here in US and also some other health issues, I have stopped buying tomatoes. So I decided to post this anyway with whatever pictures I had so that I can refer to the post when I need in future.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup onion finely chopped 1/2 tea spn garlic finely chopped 1/4 tsp tumeric 1/2 tsp cumin powder 1″ stick of cinnamon 1 small green chilli finely chopped. 1/2 tomato finely chopped. 2 small pieces of salmon or a small sea bream or a small Atlantic mackerel or prawns 1/2 cup freshly made coconut milk(optional) Oil Salt
Method: Apply sea salt to the fish pieces and keep it aside for 15-20mins. Heat oil and fry onion till they are translucent. Add garlic, green chillies, cinnamon(whole or powder) and fry for a min. Add cumin powder, turmeric, tomato. Fry for a minute and then add the fish. Add a little water, just enough to cook the fish. Add coconut milk(if using) and cook till fish is done. (I just cooked it till all the water was absorbed and fish was done).
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 20min
PS: Adjust the ingredient quantity depending on whether you are making gravy or dry dish.
About a year ago or so, somewhere on this blog I had mentioned that we both love pastas. So Gowri sent me this recipe. Thanks a lot Gowri.
I am not very fond of soya products even though I know it is good for health. Something about it’s taste used to put me down. (But for next few days it is one thing I want to work on. I will be cooking more with soy products). I ignored it for a long time and now I am kicking myself for this. I tried this yesterday. I was very hungry, tired and wanted something quick and easy. So I tried this and we both absolutely loved it. Note to self, “don’t judge any dishes, give it a try”. I will be making this more often now.
I didn’t have soy-crumbles with me. So I cooked some soya chunks and chopped them to tiny pieces. I topped it with some fresh basil from my vegetable garden and red chilli flakes. Gowri suggests to use soy crumbles ( Morningstar Farms® Meal Startersâ„¢ Grillers® Recipe Crumbles).
I am sending this to Grow your own event by Jugalbandi.
Ingredients: 1 and 1/2 cups elbow macaroni 1 ½ cup roughly chopped cabbage 2 cloves of finally chopped garlic ½ tbsp crushed black pepper Olive oil 1/2 cup soy crumbles or soya chunks ½ tbl spn pizza seasoning or 1 tbl spn chopped fresh basil Chilli flakes(optional) Salt Parmesan cheese (optional)
Method: Cook pasta according to packet direction. Heat olive oil. To this add chopped cabbage and garlic. Fry for few seconds (keep cabbage crunchy). Now add soy crumbles(if using soya chunks, cook them separately and then add) and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add rest of the ingredients (except cheese). Cook for another 5-7 minutes. Take off the heat and sprinkle pizza seasoning ot basil. Serve with grated dry parmesan cheese, chilli flakes(optional).
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 15-20mins
