Go Fish!

What I terribly miss the most about being away from India is the seafood. I wonder if it is some Goan or Bengali mutant gene in me. Of course, you get seafood here but I am not counting plainly boiled or baked bland stuff that is served in atrociously priced restaurants. If you have lived near the Indian coast and do not suffer from the guilt conscience of vegetarianism, chances are that you will love seafood. Of course, the stench can be overpowering but the deliciousness is well worth it.

This weekend, I had a mini-seafood feast at home with two new friends who also love seafood. The worst thing here about enjoying seafood is that you do not find enough people to enjoy it with. For long I have been surrounded with vegetarian and reluctant non-vegetarian friends who do not venture beyond the normal chicken. Cooking it for yourself and eating it alone is no fun; the stench that seafood leaves in the centrally air-conditioned and poorly ventilated American apartments is not appreciated by the others either. I only muster enough culinary skill to make an occasional fish curry or shrimp masala.

I miss my mom who is easily one of the best seafood cook; global love for moms held constant. I miss the Sundays when my aunt came from Bombay loaded with fresh fish. We would literally pig out on endless fried shrimps and surmaee, like some island feast gone wild. I guess my mom misses me too because my dad won’t eat anything other than pomfret and fried shrimps. My brother is mortally afraid of crabs even after they are cooked and needs everything boneless. She cooked seafood twice in her brief 7-day visit here this past summer. But I still miss the authentic zyka that you can find only in the open-air stinky Indian fish markets. The fare at Goa Portuguesa at Mahim, Saayba at Bandra, Sol Kadhi at Phoenix Mill Compound, or Sindhudurg at Dadar was the best in town and this weekend’s feast has only whetted my appetite.

Remember if you have to torture me and wriggle out some deep secrets, all you have to do is tempt me with some scrumptious Indian-fare seafood.

“Go Fish!” [Short URL: http://www.ipatrix.com/?p=335] was published Monday, October 11th, 2004 at 11:05 pm by Patrix, filed under Food Drink, Personal, and tagged as , , , . Both comments and linkbacks are closed.

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  • http://absolutelee.rediffblogs. Leela

    If it makes you feel a teeny bit better, Sol Kadi is history. :)

    But now your post has made me crave some nice fried Bombay Ducks, and Teesrya Sukha and of course, Prawn Koliwada… Excuse me while I lunch :-))

  • http://patrix.typepad.com Patrix

    Leela – Is it??? awwww…thatz too bad. I just went there once before I left for the US and vowed would be back. Kismet hai.

    And hey hey, whatchya doing craving for fish..aren’t you on your “healthy tiffin box diet”???

  • http://puredrivelling.blogspot.com Prashant

    I used to love teesrya that my nani made…. I also discovered (after coming here) that I’m allergic to shrimp… :( well neways.. now i’m a vegetarian so it doesnt matter much but yeah… seafood does taste good if its cooked well..

  • http://pompy.rediffblogs.com pompy

    :) they say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach or some such rubbish..and now u went ahead and told us the way to your secrets!! *feeling smug*

    jokes apart..we bengalis like river fish more than the sea one. all the same, i can Really empathise with your lack-of-seafood days. have a barbeque and throw in pomfret into it. what say?

  • http://hornswoggle.blogspot.com Rash

    awwwwww i miss good seafood here too. Sayyba, Gazalee, MLH were regular Sunday haunts. But Delhi’s slowly getting better. There’s even a Goan seafood place.
    BTW, if it’s seafood then you probably have Goan mutant genes. Da Bongs mostly like their phish phrom the reebhar, don’t they?

  • Jahnvi

    Bong, Goan or Mallu? You have quite a many options :) Btw, I totally empathise with your experience in cooking seafood in a “centrally air-conditioned and poorly ventilated American apartment”. Once I fried some fish for a friend (I am the veggie kinds) and the stench persisted for days! I could smell it off my clothes, jackets etc. Eww.. Anyways you can try some of the recipes from Madman’s website, they are quite simple and tasty I presume.

  • http://absolutelee.rediffblogs.com Leela

    What tiffin diet? :-)

    Truth be told, I don’t care for fish at all except for prawns and crab. Was just trying to torture you (as you instructed in the last line.)

  • http://www.parablog.com Parag

    I would suggest to try out a Cajun-style restaurant in your area to get good seafood. Better Thai restaurants also make good seafood that quite resemble Indian cooking. My current favorite is the other extreme far far away from all spices. I can’t eat enough sushi/sashimi these days. Actually, this obsession is going on for the last 4 years or so.

  • Nami

    Yum.. yum.. yummy!!! Oh, if only I could cook seafood like my Mom does. I miss the Mumbai-ishtyle fish and find no pleasure in sushi or batter-fried fish.. yuck! Patrix, next time you make some please send some over to me…

  • http://sampada.blogspot.com Sampada

    Whoa! Sol Kadhi! It’s not good to be salivating about yummy Indian food at 10:30am!!

    So you enjoyed the food cooked by your two new friends, eh? You see when the new friends are pretty girls, the food they cook doesn’t really matter much. What say? ;-)

  • alpha

    *holding nose and walking past as fast as legs can carry* Aiyoo rama! How fishy!

  • http://www.livejournal.com/users/ashweeta Ash

    Hey Sam,
    Just because he’s talking about seafood doesnt mean you go fishing for compliments ;-)

  • http://www.livejournal.com/users/sekhar Aaar

    For a taste of home made fish curry, use coconut paste:-)

  • http://www.animaha.com/blog anya

    Thanks a lot .. that too at the perfect time of 11:30am .. just before lunch!!! AAAARGHH.

    BTW .. Go to PF Changs .. and have their ‘hot fish’ .. its excellent.

  • http://patrix.typepad.com Patrix

    Prashant – Allergic to shrimp?? Gawd!my deepest condolences to your starved soul :) itna asar ki nani yaad aa gayee?

    Pompy – Thats the way to my secrets..the way to my heart is thru my chest..easier to rip it out :)I nearly forgot about your Hooghly connection…Bongs should try venturing beyond the riber :)

    Rash – Must be Goans genes but I don’t like Feni so what kinda mutation went into that? Delhi has seafood? thats like asking “Does Vatican have Protestants?”..but am surprised. I tried seafood once in Delhi..nearly puked.

    Jahnvi – Everything smells fishy and everyone stays away for a week…and of course, I have just covered three states, 27 more to go and I qualify for the national integration award…BTW what are you?

    Leela – And you think I wasn’t trying to do the same by mentioning your tiffin? :) Crabs are fun but you need time and space to enjoy them.

    Parag – I have tried both but never the seafood there. But I’ll keep that in mind the next time I go out.

    Nami – Sure! better still…some down here and pig out :)

    Sampada – Pretty girls? I didn’t notice…I was busy admiring the shrimp :)

    Alpha – bandar kya jaane adrak ka swad :)

    Ash – and what about the time when I am not talking about seafood, whats is Sam’s excuse then? :)

    Aaar – I did add the coconut paste, yaar…It did turn out Indian-like…I scrimped on the salt..shyaay!

  • http://patrix.typepad.com Patrix

    Anya – Hot Fish in PF Changs? I have literally run down their menu list but never seen that….hmmmm..now a reason to go again. Thanks.

  • Bryan

    I understand what you are going through. Being a Mangalorean, I was practically raised on seafood. Missed it a hell of lot when I was doing my Masters here. I remember those days when I would gaze longingly at those pricey menus. Not anymore. If you ever pass by Memphis, come home and have some delectable, spicy fish curry! Satisfaction Guaranteed!

  • http://dunwoody.rediffblogs.com Spaceman

    My seafood loving friends go gaga about New England and Baltimore…My ex-boss once got a crab shipment from Baltimore…Boy! was he happy…missed the chance to ask for a raise though :(…*Note to self: Send Patrix fried alligator cajun style*

  • http://patrix.typepad.com Patrix

    Bryan – Now that you have invited me over, don’t be surprised that I might just drop by next week and demand my spicy fish curry.

    Spaceman – New England and Baltimore seem to be America’s Bombay and Goa…that explains why I always had a soft corner for New England…Fried alligator..bring it on..i hope it isn’t the one that escaped during the hurricane in Florida

  • Someone

    hmmmmmmm……yes i do miss desi seafood…i still dream about the tandoori pomphret in saayba or the chutney filled one n shrimp pickle (kolmi che lonche) my mom use to make.. n my grandmoms goan fish curry was to die for .. yes nothing beats it . .not even cajun or thai even though they do come close !

  • http://patrix.typepad.com Patrix

    Someone – Now now..that doesn’t help. You are just whetting my appetite and make me drool now :)

  • http://broodingdude.rediffblogs.com Kiran

    Yes American food IS rather bland, for someone brought up on the embarrasingly rich plethora of Indian spices and flavors. But you do have great Indian restaurants out there too dont you? I am sure you would find some great Indian food out there too!

  • http://patrix.typepad.com Patrix

    Kiran – We do have Americanized Indian restaurant..so anything spicy is virtually ruled out…and no seafood restaurants..just mughlai or southie.

  • http://hornswoggle.blogspot.com Rash

    A lot of us miss Saayba I see. Thankfully I’m just a two hour flight and 20 min taxi ride away heh heh

    patrix: well, delhi has some seafood now. edible. have heard it was bad earlier

  • http://patrix.typepad.com Patrix

    Rash – Lemme see…I am 20 hr flight and 20 min taxi ride away in perfect traffic conditions and not counting the time I might have to wait for my turn.

  • http://absolutelyanonymous.blogspot.com Jahnvi

    “What are you?” Or should it be “where” are you? :)
    I relocated to Singapore after working for a year in the US.

  • http://patrix.typepad.com Patrix

    Jahnvi – Oops! thatz what I meant. Singapore is a nice place.

  • http://www.animaha.com/blog anya
  • http://patrix.typepad.com Patrix

    Anya – Are you with PF Changs?? unofficially? :) but thanks.

  • http://www.animaha.com/blog anya

    yes .. me and the wendy’s guy get together often and plot diabolical schemes to popularize our concerns.

  • Sabra

    Wow. You’re making me homesick for a place I’ve never been!

  • http://patrix.typepad.com Patrix

    Anya – I thought so! now I know why that Wendy guy makes me think of you :)

    Sabra – Thatz quite something..homesick for a place you never been to…u sure thatz not the fish talking?


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