Like the title of this post, I shall come straight to the point (and skip the story for a change). Pomfret Recheado. It was on the menu today. Both lunch and dinner! We loved it! Period.

Here's a recipe. [Note: Although the dish is Goan-Portuguese, I have tweaked it a bit (no tamarind paste) to suit my taste ]

You'll need the following ingredients:

1. 4 medium pomfrets (the fresher, the better!)

2. 10-12 red Kashmiri chilies (less or more – your pick)

3. 10-12 fat cloves of garlic

4. 1 inch ginger

5. 1/3rd tsp turmeric powder

6. 8-10 peppercorns

7. 6 cloves

8. 1 tsp ground cumin (or cumin seeds)

9. 4 tbsp white vinegar

10. 4 tbsp semolina

11. 3 tbsp refined flour

12. Salt to taste

13. 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

14. A pinch of sugar (to offset the super HOT Recheado)

15. Vegetable oil for frying

16. Julienned onions, ribboned carrots, green chillies and the like for garnishing

Clean, wash and pat dry the pomfrets. Make a few slits on both sides giving the fishes a good rub with the lemon juice and salt. Set aside for a while. Next, blend items [2] through [9] with a pinch of sugar and marinate the pomfrets for at least an hour (refrigerate).

Meanwhile, mix the semolina and the flour in a flat dish. Set aside. Heat oil in a frying pan. Dredge the marinated pomfrets in the semolina-flour mixture and shallow fry (over a low flame) until golden brown and aromatic (roughly 7 minutes for each side; please do not turn the fish over until one side is completely cooked). Serve hot with julienned onions.

And the cat loved it, too!