Fish Reshad Masala (Goan Style) - Racheado… rich with taste...

I was skeptical when one of my SIL’s friends asked for this reshad masala, but the end result was absolutely delicious finger licking dish. That was the first time I heard about the masala. This is one of the distinctive masala along side fish (all kinds). I Googled and found a lot of articles about this wonderful mix of spices.

This fiery hot red masala paste which is sweet and sour with a tangy flavour can be used as the main spice mix in a curry or to marinate meat or fish. This is usually made with mackerel fish, but I tried with pearl spot fish and it came out well.

Reshad masala is called as Racheado. This is one of Goa’s most famous dishes. Racheado means “stuffed” in portugese. In this the mackerels are stuffed with this masala and then fried in oil. This masala can be made and stored in air tight containers for months.

Next time I will try to marinate chicken with this masala and fry them.

Ingredients:

For grinding:

1. Shallots- 6nos
2. Ginger and garlic paste- 1tbsp
3. Pepper corns- 1tbsp
4. Red chillies (Kashmiri chillies)- 8-9 nos
5. Cumin seeds- 1tsp
6. Coriander seeds- 2tsp
7. Turmeric powder- 1tsp
8. Cloves- 2nos
9. Cinnamon stick- 1 small stick
10. Cardamoms- 2nos
11. Tamarind- 1 small round ball
12. Sugar- a pinch
13. Salt- as per taste
14. Vinegar- 1tbsp

For frying:

1. Fish (Pearl Spot)- 3-4 nos
2. Oil- for shallow frying

Method:

1. Grind the ingredients from 1 to 13 along with vinegar to a fine paste. Do not add water while grinding.
2. Wash and clean the fish and give some slashes on both sides of the fish so that the masala can spread inside.
3. Coat this ground masala on the fish well inside and outside and marinate for about ½ an hour.
4. Pour oil in a non stick pan for shallow frying. Fry the marinated fish on low flame till both the sides are golden brown in colour and crisp.
5. Serve this as a  starter / appetiser or along with hot rice.

Tips:

• Instead of using whole garam spices, we can use 1tsp of garam masala powder while grinding.
• We can use 2tbsp of Kashmiri chilli powder instead of red chillies.
• Instead of vinegar we can use lime juice for grinding.