Every time I visit Goa, I get dry fish from the local market. This comes handy when we feel like eating “hooman” i.e. Goan Fish Curry. At least if dry fish is there, this hooman can be cooked easily. In Goa, hardly anyone prepares this Sukya Bangdyache Hooman or Dry Fish Curry as they get fresh fish all the time. Only in monsoon when fish is scarcely available, people start preparing dishes out of dry fish. It can be stored for months and can be used anytime.
Also if you go through the ingredients, you will notice I have used “TEFFAL“. Teffal is a type of berry which is available only in Goa. It is also called as sichuan pepper. It has a unique strong smell and taste. The curries seasoned with it have a heavenly taste. Below is a type of fish curry which I made out of dry fish.
You can serve this dry mackerel curry with steamed rice, sol kadhi and dry prawns kishmoor.
Ingredients: Cook Time: 20 Minutes, Serves: 4
4-5 dry mackerel
10-12 teffla/sichuan pepper
1/4 inch ginger
1/2 cup grated coconut(coconut of small size)
1 marble sized ball of tamarind
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
4-5 dry red chillies / shepda
5 peppercorns
1 green chilli – cut into 2 parts
1 teaspoon oil
Instructions:
Cleaning the dry mackerel
- Soak the dry mackerel for 2 hrs.
- After 2 hrs, cut off the tails and the head part.
- Scrap the skin of the mackerel by using a knife or sharp spoon.
- After scrapping, dip it in water.
- Now peel of the dry flesh carefully. Remove all the thorns.
For the gravy:
- Grind grated coconut, turmeric powder, tamarind, peppercorns and red chillies.
- Slightly crush the teffla.
- In an aluminium bowl, add oil. Add ginger and green chilly.
- Now add the fish and fry in medium flame for 2 minutes.
- Now pour the gravy and stir. Add 1/2 cup water.
- While boiling add crushed teffla, salt and stir.
- Boil for 10 minutes by keeping the utensil covered.
Note: The gravy should neither be too thick nor too thin.
This post was originally published on 24th April 2011 and has been updated with new pictures and revamped on 7th Jan 2017.
Also check out top 10 Goan fish curry recipes.
Reshmi Mahesh
2011-04-25 at 2:21 amA delicious curry…looks spicy…
sharada
2011-04-25 at 3:56 amnow my mouth is watering…slurp.Felt very nostalgic seeing this dish.
Nandini
2011-04-25 at 4:30 amTasty Curry! I love goan recipes:)
divya
2011-04-26 at 1:15 amlooks so inviting..
Priya
2011-04-26 at 8:29 amSimply mouthwatering here..delicious curry;.
Torviewtoronto
2011-04-28 at 4:29 pmdelicious flavourful curry
Suman Singh
2011-04-28 at 9:19 pmDelicious fish curry!
Alcina
2017-05-02 at 2:42 amThanks a lot for sharing your Goan dry fish recipes. Stay blessed
Divya
2017-06-28 at 5:02 pmNo coriander seed in it ????
Raksha Kamat
2017-06-30 at 6:56 pmNo we don’t add corriander seeds to mackerel curries.
Sarika
2017-08-20 at 4:41 amThis recipe looks great..im gonna try it soon I dont get fresh fish where I live????this seems to soothe my goan cravings..will let u know how it turns out ????thank you for sharing this recipe
Raksha Kamat
2017-08-24 at 7:39 pmThanks. 🙂