Opinion The tale behind the recipe
I still remember the foreign smell,from my aunt's huge red suitcases.
1985
I still remember the foreign smell,from my aunt’s huge red suitcases. We would hold on to her baggage tags,reading KLM,Lufthansa as if they were passwords to unknown worlds. My aunt lived in Africa before Idi Amin asked all Indians to leave,and her whole family came back to their roots in Goa. This is where a young bright girl with an Afrikaans accent caught the eye of Gilbert,a smart young Goan man,with puffed hair,a shiny new bike and who loved to dance. They fell in love immediately and she was soon at my dad’s house being introduced to my grandmother.
Their 1975 marriage album is a classic — the huge white cake,Jackie Onassis glasses on women,the men dolled up like Elvis himself,my aunt and uncle looking as delectable as the cake in front of them.
But soon after,like most young folks from Goa in the 70s,looking for well paying jobs,Uncle Gilbert and Aunt Ambrose moved to Dubai and then to Canada. She visited us every two years. And we all knew what she really wanted when she got back. Aunt Ambrose loved the spicy,Goan dried fish stir fry. Of all the Goan food she could ask for,all she wanted was dried fish.
Dried fish — is mostly cooked during the monsoons,when the sea is rough,and the fresh catch is out of reach. In almost all Goan kitchens,tucked somewhere in a huge jar,is a collection of mackerel,salmon and prawns that have been salted and dried in the summer sun. In Mumbai,you can find it in the fish markets at Bandra or Khar Danda and in Delhi you can ask around at INA market.
Or else there is always the Goan-return who can bring you the packet wrapped in plastic,cloth and brown paper,all sealed tight with sello-tape,all making it look even more suspicious. But anything to keep the dry pungent smell out. The fleshier dried fish pieces of salmon and mackerel can be soaked in water for ten minutes,to soften the flesh and take out the extra salt. These can then be stir fried with onions,tomatoes and chillies for a quick snack. Other tiny dried fish with less meat,like anchovies,can be smoked directly on an open flame.So while we played around with my aunts make-up box,and walked around the house in her fancy stilettos as she caught up on the family gossip with my mother,dad was in the kitchen,smoking the dried fish. Her suitcases smelt very different when she went back.
The recipe:
Dried fish (anchovies) — 2 piecesonion (chopped) — 1green chillies (chopped) –2salt to tasteVinegar 1 mlCoconut oil — 1Smoke the fish on a fire,for a minute on each side. The dried flesh gets a dark brown colour when it is done. Dont worry if some parts get blackened. Take this dried fish on to a clean chopping board and use a pestle to help the smoked meat fall off the bone. It will come off in flakes and you can collect this in a small bowl. To this add the chopped onion,the green chillies,salt and a few drops of vinegar. When mixed well,add oil to the mix and stir. Go easy on the salt,as dry fish is already salted. Serve as a side dish with fish curry and rice.
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