Fish Recheado

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! One of my favourite places to visit (like countless other people) is Goa. I can never seem to get enough of the sandy beaches, beers by the sea, and obviously, the gorgeous local cuisine. Most trips, I just plonk myself on a deck chair by the edge of the water and read a book with a bottle of chilled beer and some snacks by my side as the sun steadily makes my already brown skin even browner. A tan that takes countless lemon scrubs and 6 months to get rid off!

The funny thing about a trip to Goa when you're younger is that the trip needs to be relatively spontaneous and needs someone to take the lead. If you take longer than 2 days to plan and book your trip, people start to drop out one by one until there's just you left. And with no soul searching or self discovery to do, the odds of making the trip are about as much as people agreeing on what the best cuisine in the world is. In fact, it is widely acknowledged that if you walk up to a random college student or young professional in India, they will have at least 2 stories about their almost-but-not-quite trip, how their friends let them down, and how they would have gone if even one other person had said yes (lies!). My conversion rate on these isn't much better with my only successful trip as a student being wayyy back in 2009.

8 of us, 4 days of laying about on the beach, burying ourselves in the sand, downing beers, doing drunken karaoke at 3 am, and devouring enough local food for each meal to feed a small army without a care in the world. From vindaloos to xacutis to cafreals to recheados, we ate it all and then some. This recipe is my take on Goa's popular fish recheado and if you're in an almost-but-not-quite situation, I assure you that dish this will make you feel like you're there!

For my Fish Recheado, you will need the following:

Fish	3-4 fillets of a white fish
Kashmiri chillies (dried)	8
Garlic	4 cloves
Ginger	1" piece
Cloves	3-4
Peppercorns	8-10
Jeera (cumin seeds)	1/2 tsp
Rai (mustard seeds)	1/2 tsp
Sugar	pinch
Methre (fenugreek seeds)	pinch
Imli paste	1-2 tbsp
Vinegar	big splash
Salt	to taste
Oil

Prep:

1. Pop the chillies in a bowl.
2. Pour on hot water until they are submerged.
3. Cover with a lid or a plate.
4. Let it sit for a few minutes.

Method:

Recheado Masala:

1. Grab a grinder.
2. Toss in the garlic.
3. Throw in the ginger.
4. Pop in the cloves.
5. Bounce in the peppercorns.
6. Shake in the jeera.
7. Chuck in the rai.
8. Pinch in the sugar.
9. Plonk in the methre.
10. Spoon in the imli paste.
11. Add in the soaked chillies.
12. Splash in the vinegar.
13. Pour in a tiny amount of water.
14. Stick the lid on the grinder.
15. Blitz until smooth.
16. Take the masala out into a bowl.
17. Season the fish.
18. Generously rub on the masala to coat the fish.
19. Leave for 30 minutes.

Cook:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan on.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Crank the heat up to high.
5. Count to 20.
6. Drop the heat to a medium.
7. Lay in a marinated fillet.
8. Jump back as the pan hisses and sputters.
9. Carefully add in the remaining fillets. (Don't crowd the pan!)
10. Cook for a few minutes on each side until the fish is done. (The fish will start to flake but still be moist inside.)
11. Turn the gas off.
12. Take the fish out into a plate.
13. Serve with a side of sliced onions and a wedge of lemon.
14. Stuff face.
15. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: You can use the same masala with prawns or squid or any other seafood.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!