EAST INDIAN STYLE STUFFED POMFRET

East Indian community name for Pomfret is Sarga……. This dish is generally had on special occasions….. Can be served as starter as well as side dish.

INGREDIENTS : 3-4 small pomfrets, 1 lemon, 2 tomatoes , 1-2 onions, 6-8 cloves garlic, 1″ginger, 2-3 green chillies, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp pepper powder, 1 tsp East Indian bottle masala, a bunch of coriander leaves, salt to taste, little flour, oil for frying.

DIRECTIONS : Make sideways slit of the pomfret in such a way that a cavity is formed so that the stuffing can be entered….. Wash the fish…. Apply salt & lemon juice and keep aside.

For the stuffing, chop tomatoes……. Make a paste of onions, garlic, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves….. Heat a tbsp of oil….. Sauté the tomatoes…… Add turmeric powder, pepper powder & East Indian bottle masala ….. Sauté…… Add the paste and salt…… Cook till done and almost dry…..  Keep the stuffing aside to cool.

Stuff the Pomfrets with the stuffing….. With the leftover stuffing rub the outside of the fish. 

Heat oil….. Apply flour and fry till golden on both sides….. Serve hot.

NOTE : Instead of small Pomfrets one can use big ones….. Semolina/rice flour can be used instead of flour……To get a different dish, one can wrap stuffed pomfret in banana leaf and steam/fry.


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EAST INDIAN POTATO CHOPS

A popular dish of this community, this is generally had on Sundays and special occasions….. Can be had as starters….. Also can be had as snacks during tea time.

INGREDIENTS : 5-6 potatoes, 250 gms minced chicken, 4-5 onions, 8-10 garlic cloves, 1″ ginger, 2-3 green chillies, coriander leaves, 1 lemon, salt & pepper to taste, 1-2 eggs, breadcrumbs, oil for frying.

DIRECTIONS : Clean and boil potatoes till done…… Mash the potatoes with salt and knead till smooth…. Keep aside.

In the meantime, chop onions, garlic, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves finely…… Heat 1tbsp oil….. Fry onions till slightly brown….. Add ginger, garlic and green chillies and sauté for few minutes….. Now add chicken mince, salt and pepper ….. Fry till slightly browned….. Lower the heat and continue cooking till dry…. Add the coriander leaves and lemon juice…. Mix thoroughly …..Remove from heat….. Keep the stuffing aside to cool.

To prepare chops, take a portion of mashed potatoes and flatten it to form the shape of the palm….. Make a shallow depression in the centre…..Place a portion of the stuffing in the centre….. By drawing up the sides of the potatoes, encompass the mince completely….. Shape into round chops….. Likewise make chops with the rest….. Heat oil…. Roll each of the chops in beaten eggs and then breadcrumbs…..

Fry on slow flame till golden…. Serve hot.

NOTE : Stuffing can be made with any mince….. Mashed potatoes should not have lumps….. If mashed potatoes is sticky, one should oil one’s palm before forming chops….. One can use semolina instead of breadcrumbs.

EAST INDIAN COMMUNITY CUISINE

As mentioned before, the East Indian Community are a mix of different communities like Kolis, farmers, Brahmins, adivasis, etc, therefore, the East Indian cooking cannot be standardised…… This cuisine is a blend of different identities…… The East Indian Community liked to differentiate themselves from the other Christian communities of Konkan regions…… Thus, the cuisine of East Indian Community is distinctly different from that of the Goans and Mangoloreans…… Even though the recipes have been developed during the days of the British in India, this cuisine is a pleasant mix of Maharashtrian, Portuguese and to some extent British cuisines.

East Indian Community Cuisine have very limited vegetarian food….. Coconut is used sparingly (Goans and Mangoloreans use lots of coconut)….. Cooking must be done on slow fires, preferably on coal/wooden fire, using traditional earthen and clay pots (chatties)…… Except for their special Bottle Masala (a kitchen staple) all the spices needed for cooking are ground by hand on a stone at home.

For this community, wine and liquor plays an important role in their celebrations, whether happy or sad……. Liquor is proficiently distilled in different strengths….. The most popular liquor is Khimad, which is heated in earthenware jars with narrow necks and served hot in small earthen cups called cheuvnies……… Khimad is a spiced (generally cinnamon) and sweetened liquor, whose base is coconut liquor.

The Christmas sweets of this community is very unique…… Riquejao (made of curd), bolde-coque ( a Portuguese cake), thali sweets (semolina, coconut, sugar and eggs, all baked in a thali), neuris (crescent shaped sweet puffs ), boros (biscuits), date rolls, cordial (made with coconut), etc. are made during Christmas.