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Goan Red Pumpkin Vegetable with Coconut

Pumpkin is an amazingly sweet vegetable once cooked. The hardest part about this dish is probably peeling the skin. It doesn't take long to prepare and is a nice addition to the table. Even though this dish is Goan, it would go nicely with a roast dinner as well, just because it isn't spicy at all.

You do not need to add any water while cooking as the pumpkin will naturally release it's own water and cook in its own steam.

900gms red pumpkin
2 medium to large onions finely chopped
2 dry red Kashmiri chillies
5 tsps. of dessicated coconut

Remove the seeds from the centre of the pumpkin. Peel the pumpkin skin off with a sharp knife and cut into 1" cubes.

Put a large cooking pot on the heat. Add some oil. If you have coconut oil, it would lend a better taste to the dish. Fry the onions in the oil till translucent. Add the dry red chilly and some salt to taste. Add in the pumpkin pieces and cover and cook till almost done.

Lastly add in the dessicated coconut. You could use fresh coconut as well, but I always have dessicated coconut on hand in my pantry so it's a quicker alternative if you don't have the fresh one.

Once you've added the coconut, cook for another 5 mins so that the coconut absorbs all the flavours of the pumpkin and then serve.

If you do like to have this dish more spicier, then add a few more red chillies. Overall it should be a mild sweetish dish with a hint of chilly coming out in the background.
#ericasyummyfood #goan #redpumpkin #goanfood
Posted by Erica Valles at 12:17 


Nepali Sesame Seed Chutney for Momos

Posted by Erica Valles at 09:35 


Gajar (Carrot) Halwa

This famous Indian dessert is made by cooking grated carrots in milk and reducing that mixture down till all that's left is the grated carrots. This is not one for those who are calorie counting, as it's cooked with ghee and sugar too.

You can also do a cheat's version of this dessert, by using condensed milk to shorten the cooking time. In this case, I would suggest you use just a little milk, say half a cup or about to cook the carrots before adding the condensed milk.

I have tried to make a slightlier healthy version of this dish (if that's even possible with carrot halwa!), by using lesser sugar and a lot less ghee. Makes me feel a little less guilty later on!

A note to keep in mind is to make sure the carrots are cooked properly. You do not want that raw taste of the carrots coming through. Cook it the first time with the milk and the slow frying at the end should finish it off nicely.
9 medium sized carrots
5 tsps of ghee (good quality cow's ghee for the best flavour)
2 cups of full cream milk
10 cardamom pods (remove the inside black seeds and crush them to a powder in a pestle and mortar) or alternatively use a pinch of cardamom powder
1/3 cup each of raisins and cashews

First grate the carrots after peeling off the skin. Put a big non stick pan on the heat. Put 5 tsps of ghee in the pan. Fry the grated carrots till softened. Then add in the milk, sugar and the cardamom powder.  Keep the heat on a medium, making sure you are constantly stirring the mixture so that it doesn't burn.

Keep stirring till the milk is almost evaporated. For a richer flavour, fry the cashews and raisins separately in a tsp of ghee before hand and then add that to the carrot halwa.

Once you've added the raisins and cashews, fry the mixture slowly on a low heat, taste for sugar (I have used a little less in this recipe) and once the oil starts releasing from the carrots you know that the carrot halwa is ready.

It tastes best served warm with cold ice cream.

Posted by Erica Valles at 13:32 


Goan Red Coconut Chutney

This was one recipe that was handed to me just by word of mouth. I had heard so much about it, but somehow my mom never made it at home. This was made back in the good old days in my grandfather's time.

My grand Aunt used to make this chutney. Mom remembered having it and how it was made, but unfortunately didn't have any exact measurements to give me. She remembered that it was a cooked chutney, very unlike the green version. They used to carry it with them on their train holidays up north so maybe it was cooked so as to last for a longer period of time.

This is my version, going based on what she told me, with a few adjustments of my own.

1 freshly grated coconut
6-7 Kashmiri dry red chillies
1 " piece of ginger
5-6 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of tamarind paste (I use a ready Priya's one)
1 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp of coriander seeds
1 tbsp. of coconut oil
water as required

In a mixer, grind the red chillies, the ginger, garlic, cumin and coriander seeds, adding a bit of water as needed to get a fine paste. Add in the sugar, salt, turmeric powder and tamarind paste. Make sure the first paste is nice and thin and smooth before you add the coconut. Add the grated coconut next.

Grind the coconut paste till you get a beautiful red thick paste. Check for seasoning.

In a small pan, add a tablespoon of coconut oil. Put the heat on medium low. When the oil is warm, add in the coconut paste and slowly add a little water at a time, till you achieve a thick gravy like consistency. Cook it for about 5 minutes and your chutney is ready to serve.

Cooking this chutney matures its flavour and complexity giving it a wonderful taste.  Store in the fridge in a glass container.

Posted by Erica Valles at 12:22 Labels: Indian, sauces and pickles, Vegetarian


Homemade Ginger Garlic Paste

Store in a glass air tight bottle in the refrigerator.

Posted by Erica Valles at 12:20 


Classic Goan Ox Tongue Roast

Tongue is now quite easily available in supermarkets and is one of our favourite sandwich fillers for the next day's lunchbox. I usually make a spicy version that my hubby loves, but the kids don't like it as the spice is a bit more than they are generally used to.

So I decided to try making it the classic way with just onions and a few whole spices.  The traditional method is made by using saltpeter. But since it's not available where I live, I just used regular salt instead. The kids loved it and it was gone before I could say boo!

There are many ways to remove the skin off the tongue which you must, as its very tough and can't be eaten. Some involve boiling it for a little while in hot water and then pulling it out. I just prefer to slice it off with a really sharp knife.  Nowadays if you tip your butcher a little, he will do it for you.

You can adapt this recipe and use it to make it a beef roast instead, if for some reason you are not comfortable eating ox tongue.

1 ox tongue
2 - 3 onions cut in slices
5 peppercorns
5 cloves
3-4 kashmiri dried red chillies
3 heaped tsps of gingergarlic paste
2 cups of waater

Once the skin of the tongue is removed, prick it all over with a fork so that it will absorb all the flavours later. Marinate with salt, lemon juice and the ginger garlic paste overnight, in the fridge, covered in clingfilm

Slice the onions and set aside. The more onions you use, the more gravy sauce you will get later for the tongue.

In a pressure cooker, heat some oil. Add in the peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and dried red chillies. Then add the onions and cook till transluscent. Add in the tongue. Fry it for a few minutes and then add your water. Cover the pressure cooker and cook on full heat. When it whistles, lower and time for 45 minutes.

Once 45 minutes are over, put the heat off, and remove the steam by lifting off the whistle with a fork. Open the lid once the steam has gone and put the pressure cooker back on the heat to dry up all the liquid.

Dry up all the remaining liquid (leaving the tongue inside the pressure cooker) till you get a very thick sauce from the onions. Once cooled, remove the whole spices (discard), and  slice the tongue as finely as you can. Take a really nice sharp knife to do this.

Store in a glass airtight food container and drizzle the sauce over it. You could alternatively store the sauce separately, so you can add it when you so wish.

To be honest, for the kids, I omitted the sauce and just gave them the tongue. My hubby loved the sauce on his sandwich.
Posted by Erica Valles at 11:00 Location: Dubai Dubai - Dubai - United Arab Emirates


Goan Tendli (Ivy gourd) Vegetable with Coconut

Most Goan vegetable dishes are usually made with coconut. You could use fresh coconut, but for those who don't have it readily available, dessicated coconut will do just fine.

The classic way to cut this vegetable is in long juliennes. It's a simple, easy dish to make, that is also very mild and a great accompaniment to any curry and rice.

When buying the tendli vegetable at the supermarket, make sure you don't buy the very fat ones. A nice medium slender size is what you should be aiming for.
250gms tendli (topped and tailed)
1 large onion chopped fine
2 green chillies, cut in large 1" pieces
3 tbsps of dessicated coconut
pinch of turmeric  powder

Top and tail the tendli vegetable. Simply put, it means removing the two end bits of the vegetable. Cut in slivers or juliennes and set aside.

In a casserole, heat oil. When hot, add the onions and green chillies. Saute till the onions turn a nice golden brown. Add the salt or stock cube if you prefer, turmeric powder, and the sliced tendli vegetable. Saute for a few minutes and then add the dessicated coconut.

Cover and cook on low till the vegetable softens. Make sure you keep stirring and checking once in a while to make sure it doesn't burn at the bottom. If you find it getting too dry, add a splash of water to create a nice steam for the vegetable to cook.

In about 10 - 15 mins, open and check for softness and taste. Adjust the seasoning if needed and serve.

Posted by Erica Valles at 11:34 


Orange Infused Date Syrup

This is a super simple recipe that gives you a healthier version of maple syrup. There is absolutely no sugar in this recipe. Just pure syrup with all its goodness.

This syrup will go nicely on top of a stash of pancakes, or drizzled over any cake, or crepes. You can even have it the Srilankan way,(they have something similar) where they drizzle molasses over a bowl of yoghurt and serve it as dessert!

This versatile syrup can also be used to marinate steaks or as a drizzling sauce over some meatballs. Mix in a bit or siracha and you have a lovely dipping sauce for kebabs as well.

500gms of dates
2 cups of orange juice
muslin cloth for straining

In a deep pan, add the water to the dates and let it cook for about half an hour. Once softened, remove and strain the mixture through a muslin cloth. This is the only part of the recipe that requires a bit of muscle to squeeze out all that goodness.

The syrup at this point looks more like date water. Squeeze as much as you can from the muslin cloth and discard the rest.

Put the syrup back on the heat, adding 2 cups of orange juice.

Now you can do this next step the quick or slow way. If you happen to be around the kitchen with a bit of time on your hands, keep the heat low and slowly reduce the liquid.

If time isn't on your hands, you can turn the heat higher, but do stay around so you can watch the pan and it doesn't boil over.

Reduce the liquid to about half of the level you first started with, then add the juice of 1 lemon. Keep reducing it, till you notice the syrup starts to get a slightly thick.

If you notice any froth or scum, remove it with a spoon, as this is cloud up your syrup and you won't get a nice clear end result.

The final syrup consistency should be about the same as regular maple syrup. Unlike jam, this wont thicken much once cooled, so stop when you are satisfied with how thick you want your syrup to be.
 Labels: sauces and pickles


Coriander Mint Chutney

This bad boy is my husband's invention. How does he come up with these awesome recipes, without any effort? It got me scrambling to jot down this recipe as fast as I could...

You just have to trust me on this.. This thick green goodness is nothing short of finger licking good. Serve this as a filling on a buttered bread sandwich or as a dip for kebabs, or just on the side as a chutney.

A slight variation from most of the other recipes that call for coconut. This doesn't have any coconut in it! Even without the coconut, the consistency is still nice and thick, so for those of you who don't like coconut or can't get access to it, this is a wonderful alternative.

Also the fact that there's no coconut in it, gives it a longer shelf life. It will store easily in the fridge for a couple of weeks. I've added a wedge of lemon,  with it's skin and all. Just removing the seeds. Lemons are so good for you and full of lots of nutrients.

This is probably the first time, my method is just a couple of lines!

It's that easy! So go ahead and try it.. I promise you, its awesome!

1 bunch of washed mint leaves (discard the stalks, just pull out the leaves and use)
small handful of fresh coriander leaves, washed
1" piece of ginger, peeled
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 whole green chillies (I used the milder light green variety)
4 tsps of sugar
2 tbsps of olive oil
2 tbsps of balsamic white vinegar
1/4 wedge of lemon (deseeded, but skin and all)
1/4 tsp of cumin powder

Cut some of the bigger ingredients into small pieces (ginger, green chillies, lemon etc) and blend all the ingredients together in a mixer, till you get a nice thick paste. Bottle and refrigerate.

Posted by Erica Valles at 08:32 Labels: sauces and pickles, Vegetarian


Coconut Prawn Curry

Serve hot with white rice.

Posted by Erica Valles at 08:44 



Fish cakes or cutlets as they are commonly known  are extremely versatile. They can be served as a snack, in a sandwich, as an appetizer or a side for a party, and they make a good healthy addition to any kid's lunchbox. All kids love to eat these homemade little patties and you will find yourself struggling to stop them from having more than one at a time!

I do have to tell you a funny little story about these patties.. My mom, I think makes the best kind. She can turn anything into a patty, vegetables, meat, chicken, lentils... I know I'm biased, but I've tasted a lot in my lifetime from all different sources, and I don't know anyone else's who matches up to hers in terms of flavour. But aside from that, the funny bit I remember when she used to make them, was, she would always count the number of patties she made. She usually made a lot and kept, as it was the easiest snack to go to in the fridge whenever we felt hungry. Fyi, these taste great even cold! For some reason, she didn't like the idea of making 13 patties. So if she did land up making that many, which happened quite often, she would go through the whole process of readjusting the sizes of all the others, to make sure there were either 12 or 14! Funnily, I found myself counting them when I made it yesterday and felt a bit of relief knowing there were 16!

In my mom's version once the fish is cooked and mashed, she adds in the raw onions, chilles etc to the mix to bind it. In this recipe, I have cooked the onion mixture. My mom's recipe is great if you want a bit of texture to your cutlet, but I had my kids in mind when I made this and you know kids, they don't usually like crunchy bits and bobs in the middle of their food!

The whole process can take a bit of time, but the good thing about it, is you can stop at any stage, put them in the fridge and then take over again when you need to.

I've used shark fillets, as the meat is nice and chunky and barely has any bones so you never have to worry about that accidental bone.


1 kg shark fillet pieces
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

Onion masala:
3 green chillies chopped fine (I used the milder light green variety)
2 tsps ginger garlic paste
1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

Handful of finely chopped coriander leaves
4 tbsps. of Maggi's hot and sweet ketchup (optional)

In a casserole dish, add the washed shark fillet pieces along with the water, salt and turmeric powder. The water level should be enough to surround each piece of fish. Bring it to a boil, and then check the fish. You may need to turn some of the pieces around so they get immersed in the water, and cook. Once the fish looks tender, which should take around 5 minutes, remove the fish pieces in a plate. Reserve the water, you may need it later.

In a small pan, fry your onions, green chillies, ginger garlic paste and spice powders till the spice powders and onions are cooked. Do this on a low to medium heat so as not to burn the mixture. Put the heat off and reserve.

Using a fork, mash up roughly the cooked fish pieces. Add in the cooked and cooled onion spice mixture and the chopped coriander leaves.

Add in the hot and sweet sauce. This step is optional, but I do find it gives it a lovely burst of flavour. If you can't find it, you can replace it with a sweet chilly sauce.

Don't forget to taste it now. Remember, all the ingredients are cooked so there's no worry there. Adjust your salt or anything else you may want to add.

Form them into patties. The traditional method of making these patties is a long oval shape, to indicate they are fish and not beef. Check and see how the patties come together. If you find the mixture too dry, add a tablespoon of the reserved fish water from before to help give it that moisture and bind it.  Once you have formed the patties, you can store them in the fridge for about 15 minutes so they firm up and are easier to coat. You will have less chances of breakage if you do this step. Make sure you have the next two steps ready. Beat an egg in a shallow bowl, wide enough to dip the entire patty. Always always season your egg with a little salt and pepper. Every little bit of seasoning helps in the final taste. Keep another plate with breadcrumbs ready.

Remove the patties from the fridge, coat them first in the egg, then the breadcrumbs, adjusting the shape as you go along. My advice would be, to coat all of them and reserve. Don't try to coat and fry them at the same time. You can easily burn your cutlets this way. Coat them all, then you can use your full attention for the frying stage.

Once coated and crumbed, you can again reserve them in the fridge, if you would like to fry them fresh, say, for guests in the evening. Or you can fry them straight away. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the coated fish cutlets. As you add them to the pan, you can again check for that final shape. My mom's weapon of choice (as I like to call it) is a spatula and a fork, to help flip the patties in the gentlest way possible.

Here, next is my most crucial tip when making patties. If your ingredients are cooked, you must fry your patties on a fairly high heat. Doing so on a low heat can cause them to break.  If you make patties where the meat is raw, then the fire needs to be lower, so that the meat can have time to cook!

Stay right near the fire, turning the patties as gently as you can, ever so often, so that they get a nice golden colour. Remove and set aside on a plate. Store in the fridge once cooled. These can easily stay for a week in the fridge, if you can stop everyone from digging in quietly.

Do remember, any time you open the container, to wipe off any moisture you see collected on the lid or sides, as these will soften the cutlets and make them wet.


Posted by Erica Valles at 10:59 

Posted by Erica Valles at 14:51 

Prawn Pickle

Posted by Erica Valles at 13:02 


Fish in a Coconut Curry

This is my short cut easy version of the famous Goan Caldin Fish Curry. It's a very versatile curry that can be adapted to make it a vegetable, chicken or an egg curry.

No grinding involved here. The process is simple and quick to make in a hurry. Goes extremely well with kids who love its mild flavour. You can always bump up the spice by adding more green chillies or more chilli powder. But I love this mild curry for its simplicity.

3 large pieces ( 1kg) of boneless fish fillets cut into cubes

Marinade for the fish:
1/4 tsp of kashmiri chilli powder

Ingredients for the curry:
2 small onions chopped fine
1 tomato chopped fine
1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste
2  whole green chillies slit
1 1/4 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
1/2 tsp of curry powder (not traditional but helps give this curry an extra boost of flavour)
1/4 tsp of kashmiri chilli powder (kashmiri chilli powder is known more for its colour and is not as spicy as regular chilli powder)
4-5 pieces of kokum (dried berry fruit - you can use tamarind as a substitute)
10 tbsps of coconut powder (reconstituted into milk by adding 1 cup of room temperature water)

Cut the fish into medium sized cubes. Season with salt and an additional 1/4 tsp each of turmeric powder and chilly powder. Reserve while you work on your curry.

In a casserole, heat oil. Use coconut oil for maxium flavour. Add your chopped onions and kokum. Add the whole slit green chillies and all the spice powders.. ie. turmeric, coriander, cumin, curry and kashmiri chilli powder. Fry on a gentle heat so as not to burn the spices. Add a dash of water if you feel its getting too dry.

Once nicely sauteed, add your reconstitued coconut milk. Season with salt. Remember to add a little less salt than usual as you have already added salt to the fish when marinating. Let the mixture simmer on a low heat. Boiling the coconut milk can cause it to split. In about 10 mins the curry shoul d be cooked.

Drop the fish cubes inside. Fish in curries should never be kept for longer than 7 mins to keep its texture. Time your fish. Once the 7 mins are over, check again for seasoning and serve hot with steaming white rice.

Tip: There are a lot of varieties you can experiment with for souring this dish. I've used kokum, but you can also use green mango or tamarind paste or extract.

Tip: This dish is typically made with the Indian silver pomfret which brings out the best flavour of this dish.

Posted by Erica Valles at 22:41 Erica Valles
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