In goa we call this dish mori mutton (mori = shark fish and mutton because we use the xacuti masala which is also used in the mutton version.:-)) This is an authentic Goan delicacy made once in a while whenever baby shark filets are available in the fish market.
Every household will have their own signature style of preparing it. My son love my mom’s preparation and we relish it every time we visit my parents in Goa.
Mori fish has a very leathery skin. In Goa, mori fish is always available deskinned and cut into boneless filets. I never find this fish easily here in Mumbai so I don’t make it often.
Recently my machchiwali (fisherwoman) got mori and I pounced on the opportunity to make mori mutton. She very nicely deskinned and deboned it for me. It turned out really nice (ok- not as good as my mom’s but still very nice) but the taste of the mori was not the same as what we get in goa. As they say “goychya nustyak lagana” which means you can’t compare the quality and taste of the fish you get in Goa with what you get outside Goa.
I served mori mutton with pao, sliced onions and little rice + sol kadi to finish the meal. What more can one ask for?
Even though we are making the masala from scratch it doesn’t take too much time. Perfect recipe for a Sunday lunch.
Ingredients:
- Mori (Shark) 250 grams (deskinned and deboned)
- Onion 2 (1 finely chopped and 1 sliced)
- Coconut grated half cup
- Oil 2 tbsp
- Tamarind small piece
- Water ½ + ½ cup
- Haldi /Tumeric powder ½ tsp
- Red chilli/ mirchi powder 1 tsp
Masalas for dry roasting
- Dhania / corriander seeds 3 tsp
- Cinnamon/Tikhi I small piece
- Cloves/Lavang 4
- Peppercorns 8
- Jeera / cumin 1/4 tsp
- Whole Red chilli 1
Method:
Wash the fish and cut into medium sized pieces. Apply ½ tsp salt and keep aside
Heat a pan and saute one finely chopped onion. When the onions turn pink add the fish pieces and add ½ cup of water and cook.
Preparing the masala paste:
Heat a pan and dry roast the spices mentioned in the ingredient list as “Masalas for dry roasting”. Tke it out on a plate.
In the same pan heat 1 tsp oil and fry the onions till nice and golden brown.
Once the onions are browned add the grated coconut and saute the mixture for another 5 mins. Take care not to burn the coconut and onion mixture.
Add the roasted spices to the coconut and onion mixture. Add a small piece of tamarind.
Cool a little and then grind this mixture to a fine paste by adding a little water.
Add this ground paste to the fish. Add haldi, mirchi powder. Add ½ cup water and cover and cook on a slow flame. Add salt as per taste.
At this point taste the dish and adjust the salt and chilli levels as per your taste, and your curry is ready!
Serve hot with pao (bread) or chapati. This dish goes well with rice too.