AMBOT TIK MEANING
Ambotik is actually two words, ambot which means tangy/sour & tik which means hot/spicy in Konkani. So as the name suggests, its a hot and tangy curry, made mostly using fish, prawns or even calamari. A popular fish of choice for this curry is shark fish. The spice of this curry is well balanced with the tamarind and vinegar which forms the basis for the sour component. Unlike most Goan curries, this shark ambot tik curry doesn’t use coconut at all. So it is a great option to prepare this if you run out of freshly grated coconut and still want to cook up a delicious Goan meal! It’s best served with Goan boiled rice/regular steamed rice, sannas (Goan steamed rice cakes) or even pao/pav (dinner rolls).
Like most Goan curries, ambot tik tastes better the next day, the flavors intensify rendering it even more delicious. In fact, it’s common to see most Goan’s enjoying this curry with pao the next day for breakfast 🙂 So let me share with you my Mum’s recipe for one of my favorite Goan curries. Shark ambot tik curry brings back wonderful memories! The taste of my Mum’s ambot tik curry still lingers in my mouth. I’ve used that as a guideline to be able to recreate it at home, and I can happily say it tasted almost the same:)
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS SHARK AMBOTIK CURRY, YOU MAY ALSO LOVE THIS GOAN FISH CURRY WITHOUT COCONUT
Fish Jeerem meerem
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE SHARK AMBOTIK CURRY | GOAN FISH AMBOT TIK
1.Wash the shark well, season with a little salt and set aside.
2.In your blender, add in onions, tomatoes, deseeded, soaked and drained Kashmiri chillies along with cumin seeds, peppercorns, turmeric powder, tamarind, garlic cloves, and ginger. Make a smooth paste, add water if required.
3.Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat. Add the ground paste, fry the paste until the rawness goes away, about 5-7minutes. 4.Rinse the blender used for grinding the paste with about a cup of water, add to the pan. Adjust the quantity of water as per the desired thickness. Add a little salt, vinegar, sugar. Bring this to a boil. 5.When the curry starts bubbling, add the fish. Let the curry simmer on medium-low heat for another 5 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Taste for seasonings, adjust with more salt, sugar or vinegar for tang.
NOTE
You may skip including onion and tomato in the ground paste. Saute the onions in oil until translucent, then add chopped tomatoes, cook until mushy, then add the ground ambot tik masala paste and continue with the recipe.
HOW TO MAKE SHARK AMBOT TIK CURRY?
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