Malvan- An Astonishing Experience!

Malvan is a coastal town in Maharashtra, India. Our recent trip there was one of the most memorable trips I have ever had! I had long wanted to see Malvan’s breathtaking beaches, the historic Sindhudurga fort and experience the local flavors of its patented Malvani cuisine.

Sunset in Malvan, India
Sunset in Malvan, India
One of the alleys leading to the beach in Malvan, India
One of the alleys leading to the beach in Malvan, India
Partial Partial view of our backyard at Sai Homestay in Malvan, India
Partial view of our backyard at Sai Homestay in Malvan, India
View from the ferry taking us to the Sindhudurga fort built between 1664 to 1667
View from the ferry taking us to the Sindhudurga fort
Sindhudurga fort in Malvan, India, built by the Maratha king, Shivaji in the 17th century . The ingenuity in designing this fort to protect against invaders is amazing!
Sindhudurga fort in Malvan, India, built under the rule of the Maratha king, Shivaji, was built between 1664 to 1667 . The ingenuity in designing this fort is amazing!

The seafood is as fresh as it gets and we ate at many fish thali restaurants. I am happy to say that none of them disappointed us.

Authentic Malvani fish thali
Authentic Malvani fish thali

My take on the fish curry is a baked version that turned out to be finger licking good! I used my Aai’s (mother’s) authentic Malvani recipe from her book Zanzaneet Non- Veg. My Aai’s memories of Malvan is  what really drew me to the town. My mother’s family comes from Malvan. I was on a quest to locate the ancestral home, which the family had left 85 years ago when they moved to Mumbai! What an immensely moving experience it was to find our ancestral home, all thanks to Malvan’s amazingly gracious people. Their generosity of spirit was outstanding, making us feel like family. I am forever indebted to them.

Zanzaneet Non-Veg by Vaijayanti Rege published by my Aai (mother)
Zanzaneet Non-Veg by Vaijayanti Rege published by my Aai (mother)
Baked Fish Malvan Style is fish baked in its coconut sauce
Baked Fish Malvan Style

For the Baked Fish- Malvan Style, I used fresh whiting but mackerel or salmon would be perfect for this recipe as well. I used Bedgi chili peppers which lend its vibrant color but are not as hot.

Baked Fish- Malvan Style

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients-

To marinate the fish-

  • 1 medium sized whiting cleaned, gutted, head removed and cut into 4 ( 2″ ) pieces
  • 3/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Bedgi red chili powder, or Kashmiri chili powder or paprika
  • sea salt to taste

For the curry-

  • 2 red kokum ( sun dried peels of mangosteen used for their tartness)
  • 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut . I use the frozen grated coconut, defrosted
  • 1 teaspoon Bedgi chili powder or Kashmiri chili powder or paprika
  • 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled
  • sea salt to taste
  • 8 tirfal shells,  bruised with a pestle, seeds discarded
  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil for drizzling

To make the Baked Fish- Malvan Style

  1. Marinate the fish and set it aside.
  2. Rinse and soak the kokum in 1/2 cup of warm water for a few minutes.
  3. For the curry, grind together the coconut, chili powder, ginger and sea salt with 1/2 cup of water. This mixture is ground very fine. Add the kokum with the soaking water to this mixture and stir well together. Add the tirfal shells.
  4. In a baking dish, arrange the marinated fish. Pour the curry mixture all over it.
  5. Bake in a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes or until the fish is cooked through.
  6. Remove from the oven, drizzle with coconut oil and serve.

Enjoy!

Love,

Sandhya

 

 

 

 

Advertisement

26 thoughts on “Malvan- An Astonishing Experience!

Add yours

  1. Just got back a week ago. It was in the 70s and 80s there. I love small coastal towns and cannot wait for summer to visit some of ours here 🙂

    Like

  2. I love this costal region, been not exactly to this town but to nearly places ,beaches are astonishingly beautiful and serene.. the seafood platter especially the baked fish looks absolutely delectable!! and you are surely carrying forward your mom’s legacy!!

    Like

    1. Thanks so much Megala. I hope you get a chance to visit this beautiful coastal town. My husband enjoyed the vegetarian thalis there too.
      Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year too ❤

      Liked by 1 person

  3. I really like your blog. A pleasure to come stroll on your pages. A great discovery and a very interesting blog. Fascinating and beautiful. I come back to visit you. Do not hesitate to visit my universe. See you soon 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑

%d bloggers like this: