Hi guys! Sharing a very traditional yet delicious dish from the Goan cuisine, Fish jeerem meerem curry! Jeerem meerem is basically pronounced as ‘jeerey-meerey’, the m is silent. ‘Jeerem’ means cumin seeds and ‘meerem’ means pepper in Konkani. So as the name suggests, the dish consists of meat/seafood cooked in a paste prepared of cumin and peppercorns along with a few other spices. The peppercorns and green chillies lend the required heat to this dish, which is well balanced with the tomatoes, tamarind, and vinegar. Coconut forms an integral part of most Goan curries, but this dish doesn’t use coconut. This fish curry pairs well with plain steamed rice or even pav.
I actually prepared this dish during my vacations in Mumbai since we get some really fresh seafood there, especially these delicious sweet pomfrets! We relished it along with some ‘thambdi bhaji’ (sauteed red amaranth leaves with freshly grated coconut). That made for such a soul-satisfying meal!!
How to make Goan fish jeerem meerem curry – Step by step instructions
Step 1: Marinate the fish
Marinate the fish (about 2-3 medium pomfrets sliced into 1-inch thick slices) with a little salt, and set aside while you start prepping for the curry.
Step 2: Grind the spice paste
Make a slightly coarse paste of 18-20 peppercorns, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 5 cardamoms, 1-inch cinnamon, about 5 large garlic and 3/4 teaspoon turmeric powder using 1-2 tablespoons of water. Set aside.
Step 3: Saute onions and tomatoes
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot, add 1/2 cup of finely chopped onions, saute until translucent.
Next, add chopped tomatoes (1 medium) and cook until the tomatoes are a little mushy.
Step 4: Saute the prepared spice paste
Add in the ground masala prepare in step 2, along with 2 slit green chillies, saute the masala well until it loses moisture.
Step 5: Add tamarind extract and vinegar
Extract and strain the tamarind juice (lemon sized tamarind ball soaked in 1/2 cup hot water) and add it to the above masala, mix well.
Add 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and another 1/2 cup of water, mix well and bring to a boil.
Step 6: Add the fish pieces
Add the fish pieces, and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Check for seasonings, adjust with more salt, sugar or vinegar. Serve with steamed rice.
★ If you try this easy no-coconut fish curry recipe, I would love to hear from you! I’d appreciate it if you could rate and leave a review below in the comments. Your reviews help others know the recipe better too. Feel free to share your feedback and suggestions at [email protected]. Thanks so much 🙂 You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to share your feedback with photos and suggestions to me at [email protected] You can also follow me on : Facebook Pinterest Instagram Twitter Have a great week ahead! Regards, Freda
