Goan Recheado Masala with a twist

Recently inspired by a recipe for prawn molho shared by my friend Giselda Menezes from The Madhouse Balcao (her mother’s recipe), I decided to use dates to add volume, texture and sweet taste to one of my recheio recipes and hence was born the Goan recheado masala with a twist. It turned out quite good and since then I have already made a prawn recheio (stuffing) and have used it in four of my preparations, Pomfret stuffed with Prawns Recheio, Brinjal stuffed with Prawns Recheio, Bombay Ducks stuffed with Prawns Recheio and Goan Calamari / Squid Chilly Fry. All the recipes turned out good and were a hit in the household.

Ingredients:

• Kashmiri Red Chillies (stemmed & broken) – 15
• Dates (deseeded) – 6
• Ginger – 1 inch
• Garlic – 6 cloves
• Cloves – 7 to 8
• Cinnamon – 1 inch
• Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp.
• Black Peppercorns – 15
• Turmeric – ½ tsp.
• Onion (finely chopped) – 1 medium
• Palm Vinegar – 100 ml
• Salt – ½ tsp.
• Sugar – 1 tsp.
• Oil – 2 ½ to 3 tbsp.

Step 1:     Soak the Kashmiri chillies in the vinegar for 2 to 3 hours. Later, take them out and keep aside.

Step 2:     Soak the dates in the same vinegar for 20 to 30 minutes. Later, remove and grind them by themselves to a fine paste.

Step 3:     Heat a ½ tbsp. of oil in a pan and sauté the onion till translucent. Take off the heat and allow to cool.

Step 4:     Grind the fried onion, soaked red chillies, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, black pepper, turmeric, sugar and salt to a fine paste with the vinegar and 50 ml water.

Step 5:     Heat another 2 to 2 ½ tbsp. of oil in the pan you used for the onions and when hot add the ground masala and sauté for 3 minutes on low heat. Then add the date paste and sauté for another 3 minutes. Switch off the heat and allow to cool.

Store in the refrigerator in a clean, sterile and airtight glass jar for future use.

Note:

• Use a plastic, ceramic or glass bowl to hold the vinegar while soaking.