Flavour of Goa: Spicy Goa Sausages Curry

October 27, 2014

Woohoo!! I am just back from a fabulous trip to Goa – the bestest trip ever to Goa. I am bursting at the seams with so many stories and so much to share with you guys. I hope I will be able to keep the excitement intact for the next few weeks, because, oh woe is me – I have a tremendous work schedule before me at office and I have to travel from tomorrow. Nooooo! *shudders in horror* Okay, let’s just stick to our happy ‘woohoo’ for the moment and not think about work.

Now, I am not much of a shopper, more so at touristy places, but I make it a point to buy at least one local-made thing from the places that I visit. This time in Goa, I bought the famed Goa sausages (they are not called Goan sausages, apparently). We get them in the cold storage shops in Bangalore (Lusitania Foods, Frazer Town), too, but it is more fun to buy the same thing from the place it actually belongs to, no?

Luckily for us, we were there on a Friday which turned out to be Market Day in Mapusa. And so, while the sun blazed down on us in all its glory, we feasted our eyes on these fiery Goa sausages, laid out in large mounds - beads of delectable red nuggets strung together to look like necklaces.

Sausage vendors at Mapusa market

Goa sausages

The Goa sausages or choriz as they are called sometimes, are tart, spicy and full of sinful, fatty goodness of pork. A complete assault on the senses, they have a pungent yet divine aroma that fills up the whole house. Made only in Goa, these spicy handmade sausages are prepared by expert sausage makers in Goa, carefully marinated with a judicious mix of chillies, vinegar and a secret blend of spices, then sundried or smoked.

We bought a handful of the sausages, which the lady measured by counting the ‘beads’ and sensibly packing them in several sheets of paper so that the oil did not seep out. The treasure now lies in my fridge and I plan to scrimp on them to make their presence longer in my house.

Anyways, I was absolutely dog-tired after the journey and didn’t want to exert myself at lunch today. Besides, I was dying to cook the sausages. The recipe called for only 3 ingredients. There were variations to the recipe but I decided to stick to the basic one. Take a look and tell me if life could be any simpler than that.

Goa Sausage Curry

Serves: Two people

Ingredients:

10 beads of Goa sausages
1 large sized onion, chopped
2 medium sized potatoes, chopped into cubes
1 tablespoon tomato puree or a small tomato, chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon refined oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Cut open the sausages’ outer cover and keep the meat separate. You can chop the sausages or keep them as they were, although in my case the meat fell apart the moment I removed them from their casings.

Rinse the casing in water and reserve the water for later use.

Now in a frying pan, dry roast the sausages till the oil oozes out of them.

Next, add the chopped onions and stir well. Add a teaspoon of oil so that the onions caramelize a bit. At this point you can put in the tomato puree, or the chopped tomato, if you opt to go for them.

Then, tip in the potatoes and add a little salt. Take care of the salt since the sausages are salty on their own.

Now, pour in the reserved water (or more if you want) and cover the pan so that the potatoes and the meat are cooked. Keep the gas on low heat.

Check after around 15-20 minutes (you can add more water in the interim if it becomes too dry) and your curry should be ready. Remove from heat and serve piping hot with steamed rice or bread, along with your favourite glass of tipple.

Enjoy the explosion of flavours in your mouth and you will know that there is a party going on there. After all, they are from Goa, aren’t they? Have fun!