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Goan-stuffed mackerel with kachumber and lime wedges
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 4 large mackerel, guts and heads removed
- 1tsp sea salt
- juice of 1 lime
- 25g unsweetened desiccated coconut
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3cm ginger, peeled and chopped
- 3 green chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1½tsp cumin seeds, freshly ground
- 2tsp coriander seeds, freshly ground
- ½tsp turmeric powder
- 4tsp tamarind paste
For frying
- 1tbsp plain flour
- ¼tsp cayenne pepper
- 2tbsp ghee
- 1tbsp olive oil
For the kachumber
- ¼ cucumber, halved, deseeded and chopped into small cubes
- 2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped into small cubes
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- ¼tsp cumin seeds, freshly ground
- 10g coriander leaves
- juice 1 limes
To serve
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- kitchen string or raffia
Method
With a pair of scissors, cut off all the fins from the mackerel, except the tail fin. Snip open the belly as far as possible to the tail end. Sit the fish on a board with the belly facing down and press firmly along the backbone with your thumb towards the tail. Keep pressing until you feel the bone loosening. Turn the fish over and all the side bones should have also come away. Gently pull the backbone out. Snip the bone, leaving the tail in place.
Repeat with the remaining three mackerel then rub the insides with the salt and some lime juice.
Place the coconut in a small bowl, add 4 tablespoons of boiling water and let it soak for 20 minutes until it has absorbed most of the liquid. Drain and put in a food processor or blender with all the other ingredients and whizz up to create a paste.
Pat any excess lime juice from the mackerel with kitchen paper and spoon the paste into the cavities. Form the fish back into shape and tie with string or raffia.
Combine all the kachumber ingredients in a large serving bowl.
Put the flour, cayenne and some salt and pepper on a plate and lightly coat the fish.
In a large frying pan, heat the ghee and oil and fry the fish 2 at a time until golden and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes each side. Serve alongside the kachumber and lime wedges.
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