Quick Week in Goa

A week is barely long enough to realise that you need at least a week just to work out what’s going on… It takes at least a week on the beach to acquire the knowledge about those famous beach raves (There aren’t any; go to a silent disco in Palolem – I didn’t have time, but they’re really good, apparently), where you can get good thali and ‘fish curry rice’ (A challenge, since beach shacks that used to serve them now concentrate on ‘international’ menus), and the best beaches (Colva, Palolem).

I now need to go back to Goa quite soon, so I can use the basic knowledge that I picked up on the last trip – before it’s out of date.

Anyhow, despite only having a few days, I did manage to enjoy the following:

6 beaches
Lots of lobster – barbecued several times; in massala sauce once
Crab xacuti - hot, rich, tangy coconut curry
Amazing breakfasts of idli rice cakes, vada savoury doughnuts, eggs and omelettes, chick-pea curries, delicious fermented coconut sauce
Boat trip to Morjim turtle beach and Ajuna market, via dolphin-watching
Disasterous attempt at partying in Baga - don’t go to Mambos club at the bottom; freezing cold air con, appalling charty music, undrinkable wine, empty club other than a couple of locals, a couple of hookers and some drunk seedy tourists. Oh and they think anyone black is from Nigeria and are therefore trouble-makers, and will be refused entry.
Great Goan restaurant in Panjim, called The Upper House
Cashew and coconut palm varieties of fenni – the local distillation
Fish ambot tik - sour curry with tamarind
Loads of wonderful roti bread, straight from the tandoor, usually brushed with melted butter
Fish-curry-rice - mackerel in a coconut curry sauce with rice
Vindalho, of course

That’s quite a lot I suppose, but I had a massive list of things I wanted to try that will have to wait until next time.

Christmas 'Fruits de Mer' Frenzy

For our Christmas Eve meal, we had the most massive fruits de mer ever in the world. I doubt I’ll remember everything, but I’ll give it a go: Prawns, smoked prawns, home-dressed crab, potted shrimps, steamed mussels, oysters, clams, land snails with garlic and parsley butter, scallops cooked with breadcrumbs and herbs, shallot vinegar, homemade mayonnaise …and chips.

Indian Fish Festival

Kasturi are having a fish festival in September, and I was very privileged to get a sneak preview of the festival menu (plus a some chicken), this week.

Kasturi’s Aldgate premises are unassuming from the outside, but elegant and fresh within. The food looks fantastic and tastes even better...



Starting with a dreamy creamy mango lassi (for £2.10) was very enjoyable, especially as the lassi was not too sweet. We were then served an assortment of little starters on one big platter. These included a wonderful crab kebab, packed with fragrant herbs and hot spice, that did not drown the delectable crab flavour. There was also salmon tikki, which I would never have chosen from a menu, (salmon and tikki not quite matching in my head), but which was absolutely delicious – beautifully cooked, as well. Pieces of marinated chicken were the tenderest chicken I have ever eaten, again beautifully cooked. My fellow diner and I were quite stunned by it. I am told that 15 hours of marinating is the key to that tenderness. I don’t know why, but I think I subconsciously assumed that you go to an Indian restaurant for flavour rather than perfectly cooked meat and fish, but this extra dimension of care took the meal onto a whole new level.



Back to the platter, because there were also little chicken joints in a sweet red sauce that had caramelized and gone gooey and crispy during cooking – too sweet (for my taste) to have that alone, but a thoroughly delicious contrast to the other light, fragrant and spicy starters. The starter platter came with a punchy salsa and a gorgeous green sauce, which tasted almost like freshly cut grass, and was apparently made with a mix of herbs, green fruits and seeds.

For our main course, we tried the seafood biryani (£11.95) and mahi rolls (£9.95). The Biryani had a rainbow of flavours, the memory of which are making my mouth water as I write. It included perfectly cooked seafood, of course, with the unexpected addition of dill, which worked really well with the other flavours, and tied the salmon to the rest of the biryani.

Mahi rolls, seafood biryani, vegetable curry and ochra with shallots

The mahi rolls were something else; delicate fillets of fish, encasing a mixture of herbs, spices and chopped fish, and all covered in a fragrant coconut sauce - a very special dish.

Our main course came with a vegetable curry for the biryani, and some addictively scrumptious crispy fried ochra and shallots.

We finished off our delectable meal with mango kulfi to share. I so wanted to try the delightful-sounding dessert with cardamon, saffron, cream and carrot, but just didn’t have room. After my experience of Kasturi, I am not surprised that this multi award-winning restaurant is getting so many rave reviews.



So, if you fancy trying some of the dishes I so enjoyed sampling, make sure you don’t miss the Kasturi Fish Festival! While I was enthusing about the food to the restaurant’s passionate owner and manager, Bashir, he reminded me that the samples I was tasting were not as good as if it were cooked for the festival, because mine was done individually that evening – if cooking in big batches for the festival, the food would have longer to marinate, and flavours would develop further in the larger quantities.

Kasturi specialises in Pakhtoon cuisine, with grilled dishes that make the most of the cooking juices from meat and vegetables. They serve an exciting range of dishes, and place lots of importance on colour and texture, without “changing the true nature of Indian food for the sake of undefined modernisation”.

The service I experienced was good. Some of the junior members of staff seemed a bit nervy, as if it was their first day of work, but the management made sure everything ran smoothly, and general manager, Rahman, was warm, kind, and very helpful.

For more information, visit www.kasturi-restaurant.co.uk

Beach Life – Shacks & Seafood - 25th August 2007

Waking up in my own mouldy beach shack was idyllic. After a strange breakfast of delicious char-toasted baguette and butter, with disgusting tea made from mildewy teabags and powdered milk (They had no jam. Or fruit. Or real coffee. Or milk.), my dad came to pick me up.



Another jolting trip along a non-road, further down the coast, and I got my first glimpse of the white sand and aqua water of No2 River Beach. This beach is like a Bounty Bar advert, with mountains and rain forest stretching down to the white sand, and hardly anyone about.

There’s a couple of stalls selling nice souvenirs, like jewelery and sculptures. You can also order clothes, which are made while you wait, from locally dyed material. There’s a large kitchen in a building next to the stalls, from which food is served to customers in thatched shelters on the beach. Deliciously fresh pompano fish in a herb and tomato sauce, came with yummy, starchy sweet potato chips, and was washed down with Star. A very thin mummy dog and a scrawny chicken became our friends as they gobbled up scraps of leftover chips.





Then heavy clouds rolled over, and a downpour started. The downpour kept going, so we decided to leave, and headed back towards Lakka, stopping at the Italian-owned restaurant at Sussex Beach for tea. I never got to see the actual beach here, because the restaurant overlooks a tidal lagoon, with the sandbank beach on the other side. The tide was low, but I still didn’t want to wade through seawater with my camera. I’m told it’s another gorgeous stretch of peopleless sand (yellow this time) and palm trees.



If you go to Sussex, you’ll meet the soppy little dog, who tempts visitors to tickle it’s tummy by walking up to them and flopping on its back at their feet, tail wagging furiously.

Tonight we had a second date with Paul, which was pretty similar to the previous evening, except that I had freshly caught crab (y.u.m.), and pa had prawns. It was also my second and last night at the beach hut.