3rd Leg Day 3: Headwinds, Counter Currents and Fish Curry

We battled through the night against the wind and against the currents. I have not experienced anything like this before.

We passed into the North Atlantic Ocean again via The Narrows late yesterday afternoon, en route to Puerto Rico. We came close to the island, then encountered a head wind tht forced us to furl away the sail completely and motor along. Suddenly we were moving at one knot. I checked the engine revs, checked behind us in the wake for anything that maight have caught on the rudders and dragging along. Then I put the engine in idle and out of gear. Then we were moving sideways at a knot. Quite disconcerting in the middle of the night. The engine revs were put up to a decent nick and then we managed to move along at just over two knots. And so we motored laboriously for most of the day.

The verdict was a heavy current out of the North Atlantic into the Puerto Rico Basin. This current dominated our day until after lunch. Our daily run came to the princely total of ninety nautical miles. I write it in words to make it sound a bit further. Dismal and enervating, but there you have it. The words “head winds” and “counter currents” take on a whole new meaning. Being in sight of the land doesn't help much either. You start off on your watch looking at a lighthouse on land. Then, at the end of your next watch nine hours later, you are still seeing the same lighthouse. Not funny.

The day was quite nice otherwise. Discussing the heat of the day seems a bit bland, as it is still very hot. We still have to check the engine fuel filters for water, as well as the coolant, every three hours. And we still get water in the fuel. Fiddlesticks!

The weather seems to be clearing a bit and the wind is veering into the north-east sector of the compass, which suits us to a T. We may just be able to raise the mainsail in a few hours' time if the wind veers some more. It has been freshening all through the day, which is also good. Perchance we may be able to sail at over six knots again.

Our bit of excitement came from a naval exercise by the US Navy. We had to motor around the exercise area. Also we were entertained by the US Coast Guard and their frequent bulletins on VHF channel 16, giving the co-ordinates of the exercise area for us civilians to stay clear.

Today was my turn at the galley again. The choices of meals are beginning to be very narrow, verging on almost binary. As in take it or leave it. This shows the voyage is drawing to an end.

We still have some fish, so it was fish curry and rice.

Last Legs Fish Curry

Ingredients

400 g fish fillets, cubed. I used Dorado, also known as Mahi Mahi around these parts.

1 onion, chopped

2 small Jamaican hot pepper chilis, chopped. I got these in St Maarten, as ours from Cape Town had started fermenting and had to be ditched.

1 dessert spoon masala powder

½ teaspoon cumin powder

½ teaspoon whole coriander seeds

1 star aniseed

¼ teaspoon aniseed seeds

¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1 small stick cinnamon bark

½ cup lentils. Brown or black lentils are good. This is for some bulk in the fish part of the dish.

1 envelope coconut powder

some salt

1 teaspoon gharum masala

½ cup frozen garden peas

dollop of cooking oil

1 dessert spoon butter

1¼ cup rice

½ teaspoon saffron essence

Process

Cook the rice in enough water to just absorb all of it. Add a ½ teaspoon of saffron essence and some salt as requied.

Start with a dry frying pan, Fry the whole spices until the flavour comes out, then add a dollop of cooking oil and the butter. Heat the oil and butter to medium hot, then add the onion and the chopped chilis. Fry the onion until it is glassy, the add the dry powder spices. Keep the gharum masala for later. Fry for a minute, then add the fish. Fry the fish until it is nice and brown, then remove from the pan. Add the coconut powder, dissolved in half a cup of water, and the lentils. Simmer these until the lentils are almost done, then add the fish back to get the flavours mixed properly.

Lastly, add the garden peas and the gharum masala and simmer for another five minutes, before turning off the heat.

Let the dish rest for a few minutes before dishing up.

Bon appetit!

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12

Leg 3 Day 2: Sailing the Virgin Islands

The day dawned somewhat hazy, I was on watch from 03h00 and saw the sunrise in the haze. I also saw some lightning flashes lighting up the sky momentarily. These were from the tropical storm far to the east of St Maarten.

As the day grew into full bloom the clouds cleared and we had a day of the most brilliant colours that the Caribbean could muster. A sweet farewell to us, much like the welcome that we received a week ago. The colour of the sea varied from turquoise to bright blue and the cerulean that we had before.

At the moment the sun is setting on a very calm sea, almost like the doldrums. On this occasion we have a little breeze gently pushing us along, but doing little about the opressive heat of the day. We have now crossed formally into the North Atlantic Ocean again, through a seaway going by the name of the Narrows. We sailed between Peter Island and Norman Island, passing via Sir Francis Drake Channel into the Narrows. The Narrows lies between Little Thatch, Big Thatch and Saint John. We then carried on south of Great Tobago and Little Tobago, sailing in a west-northswest direction.

Sounds very romantic, methinks.

Yesterday Dawid was on duty from 15h00 to 18h00, so he cooked dinner. He made a kedgeree, the first time ever. Another hurdle crossed. This kedgeree was made using some of the snoek that we caught way back, a day or two out of Cape Town. He basically fried the snoek a little in fried onions, then added some water and simmered it till it was done. Spices consisted of some coriander seeds that were fried along with the onions, and some cajun spice that he brought along. The fish was flaked to remove the bones and to have shredded fish. Then the fish was added to cooked rice, to which he had also added some lentils for body in the dish. Voila, we had a decent meal. Of which Renier, who hates fish, had two helpings.

We have not done any open ocean navigation, as we literally did not have a proper horizon. This is a different way to say that we were surrounded by islands. We also did not do any real coastal navigation using the paper charts, as we were simply too lazy in this heat. But we were quite busy with close quarters navigation almost throughout the day. Part of this was the lookout for crab pots and their floats, as well as assisting the skipper with sounding info and lookout for other traffic. Even in these quiet, out of season times there are still a lot of traffic on the water.

It is evident from the large number of mooring buoys in every sheltered cove that there is a lot of small craft traffic in peak season. The buoys would be in place to prevent anchor damage from completely destroying the habitat under water. No wonder the first world countries are making a noise about environmental issues. We are relatively spoiled by the lack of tourism of this nature back in SouthAfrica. One can still have a quiet, romantic getaway on most of our waters, especially the Vaal dam. Although it is an inland water, there is ample room for a quiet getaway of four days.

Something that all three of us aboard now need. It has been a long haul and the beauty of the region that we are sailing is breathtaking. This raises at least some longing for home, the whole “wish you were here”-thing.

We are slowly settling back into the shipboard routine, with watchkeeping and cooking. The oppressive heat makes it difficult to sleep, but at least the sea is calm, so we can have our hatches open for some fresh air. We also have a little more leeway with fresh water, as we have full tanks and some spare, and only a few days' worth of sailing. Which means we can have more than one shower a week. Not that that will cool you off, you will only get some of the old grub off. But you feel clean for another twenty minutes or so.

We had a proper washing day while alongside, so all our bedding has had a good soaking and rinsing in fresh water. The warm clothes we shall leave until we get back home.

The warm weather causes one to wear vas little as possible, so we are all sporting decent tans. We all lost some weight, so there's something to be proud about too.

And so we sailed our sweaty way through the Virgin islands. Almost like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, except we did not pick up anybody along the way.

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12

St Maarten Stopover

We eventually arrived in St Maarten, despite all our misgivings resulting from the ghosts in our collective heads. These feelings are rather like those that small children get when the on road to nowhere. Interminable. You feel like the well known TV program in South Africa, going nowhere slowly. Except that in this case there arren't any stops or a sho't left anywhere. You have to carry on and follow through.

Oyster Pond marina at St Maarten is a small bay sheltered by hills, so there is no wind to speak of. The result is that sweltering hot and humid conditions prevail. A good reason to drink beer, especially for the intrepid, thirsty sailors just arriving.

We reported all the boat's failings and soon we had people aboard to fix these. Except that it was only an inspection, as every body had already gone home on the Friday afternoon. We went for a test sail to demonstrate the symptoms causing our concerns and had a good shakedown sail under the able supervision of the technical person from the Moorings base. He allayed some of our fears and confirmed that the standing rigging appeared to be slacker than expected. After that we had weekend.

Then our woes started. The internet access open to us was the slowest and most intermittent that I have ever encountered. Most frustrating when you haven't had contact with your loved ones at home for over a month. I was able to upload exactly two blog posts out of a total of thirty-one that I had prepared. This over a period of several hours, where the internet access point dropped the communications every so often, We resignedly accepted this poor internet connectivity and ascribed it to third world conditions on the island.

Then, on our way out, leaving the island, we stopped at the fuel station on the other side of the island. Close to the yacht club. And we found a proper wireless internet link, free of charge.

I then managed to load twenty blog posts in one and a half hours. Next time I shall be looking elsewhere to find a decent internet connection, before wasting my time struggling with sucking electrons one at a time through a limp drinking straw.

On Monday morning the technical people came and adjusted the tension on the rigging. They were unable to supply a replacement bulb for the stern light that blew. So now we carry on to sail through the night, showing navigation lights and an anchor light in lieu of a stern light. Mercifully the other ships have understanding of this and gives us a wide berth.

We did some shopping on the island as well. The island has a number of well-stocked shops selling electronic goods and cameras in addition to the normal tourist shops selling perfumes, cigars, alcohol, jewelry and sexy lingerie. I got something nice for Carol and a pair of “I've-been-to-America” deck shoes for myself. All at end of season prices, which did not make an indecent dent in my budget.

We arrived right at the end of the tourist season and most of the shops in the tourist part of Philipsburg were closed on the Sunday. The end of the tourist season on the island is like throwing a switch. One day everything works, the next day or two everything shuts down and people are on leave. Mostly away from the island, it seems. Even the small hotel at Captain Oliver's Marina, where we were moored, closed down. It is a weird feeling to walk around in a semi ghost town.

The island has some interesting fauna. There area number of pelicans in the marina. They fly around and dive into nthe water for their fish. They are quite adept at this, but it still gives me the heebie-jeebies to see a large bird like a large fold of skin hanging from the chin and a large comb on the that, 2-3 meter wingspan and all, diving into shallow water. There is also some very large lizards on the island. The females are quite slim, have elongated bodies in a bright green colour and they are about a meter long from head to tail. The males are a bit larger and more of a gray-green colour, with  head. They get quite tame and will walk right up to you looking for something to eat.

We also spent some time at one of the beaches close by. A wonderful place, well suited for a honeymoon, no less. There is a small beach with beach umbrellas planted permanently. And beach loungers, complete with service from the nearby restaurant. The sea water is a turquoise colour and very clear, you can see the coral heads while standing on the beach. With hardly any waves and the water temperature around 28º C (82º F), probably warmer,some people think it well to stand semi-floating in the water and have their drinks right there in the sea.

With most of the holidaymakers having gone back home, the beach was semi deserted. This was good, as we were not up to facing large crowds after our sojourn of thirty days at sea.

Idyllic is a good word to describe the conditions. But nothing is permanent. I think the built-in beach umbrellas only last until the next hurricane season. And even the best hamburgers get to be too much of a good thing after consuming three in three consecutive meals, for want of something better. And the beers get stale and your liver starts complaining about the change of eating and drinking habits.

Clearly time to leave.



Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12

2nd Leg Day 30: Anticipation And Risotto

We sailed through the moonlit night continuing our Caribbean welcome. The wind was fair, light in the lee of the islands, fresh in the straits between. A large sailing catamaran passed us like a ghost in the night. Or perhaps like a large swan on the wind, under full sail. Quite romantic in the bright silvery moonlight.

It is almost light enough to read. Certainly to make coffee without having any lights on. Tonight we shall have almost no darkness, as the moon is almost full. You get the feeling that you have travelled through a dream into the pages of Lord of the Rings. The yacht passing us in the night certainly added to the atmosphere.


You can feel the anticipation on board. St Maarten is maddeningly close. Two hours by car on land. Cape Town to Langebaan. Pretoria to Dullstroom. Johannesburg to Kroonstad. Interesting how one's perspective of distance changes when travelling on the water. And it feels like time is standing still. And then we found the mast is loose in its fittings. Well, that is the best description that we can come up with. Hopefully the last of our woes, after the water in the diesel two days ago. The loose mast put and end to our sailing, let alone using the mainsail in these close to optimal sailing conditions.

Now is the time to dig into the inner self and find the now, the essence of life. Then live in it. This is widely described. Eckhard Tolle has written a whole book: The Power of Now. All about suppressing your ego and allowing your self to enjoy the now. Feel the glow. It hurts to suppress your ego. But the result is an experience of a peace beyond one's wildest expectations. Zen Buddhism also has it. Something to nurture.

And to carry one through these trying times.

 It's as if some force of darkness wants to keep us from completing our set task by casting obstacles in our way. Well, we have around forty miles left to go on this leg of the voyage. That will bring our distance logged on this voyage up to 5630 nautical miles. Just under a quarter of the way around the globe.

It was my last turn at the galley tonight. I made the last risotto for this leg.

Chicken Risotto Number 3

Ingredients

250 gram deboned chicken breasts, cubed into thumb size cubes

1 cup rice

1 onion, chopped

¼ teaspoon coriander seeds (dhania)

¼ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera) I know this is not Italian, but what the heck, add some exotic flavour

½ hot chili, chopped

½ teaspoon chopped garlic

½ carrot, finely chopped

¼ cup fresh cream

½ cup white wine

½ cup vegetable or chicken stock. I used chicken stock.

3 dried mushrooms, rehydrated in hot water, thinly sliced. Use the hot water afterwards for the chicken stock.

Dollop of cooking oil

½ cup of frozen stir fry vegetables

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1-2 cups hot water, as required

Process

Fry the coriander seeds in a dry pan until the flavour comes out, then add the cooking oil. Add the chicken and mushrooms as soon as the oil is hot enough. Fry these until the chicken is nice and brown and begins to stick to the frying pan. Remove the chicken and mushroom from the pan, add a little more oil, the onion, carrots and chili and fry until the onion goes brown. Add the uncooked rice. Keep on stirring and add the chicken stock. When the stock has been absorbed, add the wine. When the wine has been absorbed, add hot water a little at a time. When the rice is almost done, add the frozen peas and the rest of the stir fry vegetables, You will not be stir frying them this time around, the vegetables are there for some flavour and texture. Lastly, add the cream. Stir continuously to ensure that nothing sticks to the frying pan and burns.

Add salt and pepper to taste and dish up.

Bon appetit!

Authored by Johan Zietsman

Last updated on 2013-05-07

2nd Leg Day 29: The Caribbean Greeting

Yesterday we formally entered the Caribbean sea. The weather started clearing behind us, giving us clear skies and an almost full moon for the night sail. The swell subsided and we sailed in flat seas at over six knots for most of the night.

This enabled us to see St Lucia. the island that we were passing. The lights were clearly visible, giving an impressionist view of the island's silhouette. Perhaps this is an apt point of view, as there is a large French influence in this area of the world.

The moon set at around 04h00 this morning, over a flat sea and a huge light path over the water. Rather like a gigantic carpet of welcome rolled out in our honour.

The setting of the moon left us in complete darkness for the next hour or so. Awaiting the next act of Nature's play. The sun started colouring the east in pretty pastel hues of pink and blue. This seemed like the curtains on a huge stage opening on a gigantic display of the grand colours of Nature, viewed through a misty haze of light clouds. Ringing in the next act on cue, no doubt.

We crossed the St Lucia Strait on our way past Martinique. This passage also crossed us into the Caribbean sea, out of the Atlantic side. We are now sailing in a northerly direction leaving the Windward Islands to windward. Perhaps like the sailors of old on their traditional routes. It sounds like a plausible description, as we shall soon be leaving the Leeward Islands to leeward on our way to the Antilles. Just past the island of Antigua. All the names steeped in legend and history.

The seas here are flatter, the breezes more constant and mild than in the open Atlantic. The weather is ultimately suited to a laid back lifestyle. Like being on holiday forever. The sea is an incredible shade of blue. Cerulean seems to be the appropriate word describing the colour. And today the sun is hot and yellow. You may work on your tan up to eight o'clock in the morning and after four in the afternoon. In between it is too hot and, besides, you burn to a delicate pink very quickly.

This welcome into the Caribbean is most appreciated after four full weeks at sea. The morale on board is still positive, the mood boisterous and happy. But there are small signs of strain. The odd question here, the extra nap there. Some quietness at times, perhaps a little more introspection. Nothing serious, or that you could put your finger on. But noticeable on a woolly hunch feeling. Certainly more than when we left St Helena four weeks ago. And there is also an air of anticipation beginning to build up. Also quite noticeable and positive. And it carries us through these frustrating times when you wish the boat would go faster. The best part bis that , should our prayers be answered and we do go faster, we shall be reaching St Maarten around 02h00 on Friday morning. Not a good idea, methinks.

I suspect that we all are longing for a break in the deadly routine of three hours on, six hours off. And the cooking. Cooking is now a punishment, standing at the hot stove in this tropical heat. Routine is good for the boat and for the soul, but a change is as good as a holiday. We have been in our own company in close quarters for over six weeks now. Clearly time for a break.

We are crossing the Dominica Channel at present, well on our way to Guadeloupe, then on to St Maarten, which forms part of the Dutch Antilles. There remains just over 200 nautical miles on this leg of our voyage. This leaves us with about 40 hours' worth of sailing, which will bring us to St Maarten by Friday early morning at some civilised time when the sun is up.

We need to complete the required admin and boat's husbandry chores as necessary after docking. And, more importantly, complete these during the remaining working hours before the weekend. We specifically need to get Renier's PC back up and running, as well as arrange for additional charts and other navigational backup, as we are heading into serious hurricane territory after St Maarten. We also had some interesting times with equipment failure on the crossing. Today, in addition, we found water in the diesel filters on both engines, a sure sign of water in our stock of diesel cans. Then the satellite telephone would not charge and we had to fiddle to get it to make proper electrical contact. We certainly would not like a repeat of these while dodging hurricanes. After all, we are neither privy to the techniques, nor do we have access to the tools that the hitchhikers through the galaxy had on their escapades.

After work and before our weekend starts, we shall have a welcome shower. After all this time of one shower a week it will be feeling quite strange. I know, having done this before. Six showers in six weeks. A small boy's ultimate dream.

Then we shall have a beer. Or perhaps two. After that we shall be contacting the loved ones at home. And load the blog. I have not gone to all this trouble to hide it under a pail.

And after that we shall have a good, long sleep and not do anchor watch duties.

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12

2nd Leg Day 28: Entering the Caribbean and a Sourdough Seed Loaf

Today we officially entered the Caribbean Sea. There is sea grass floating all over. In large stripy clumps. Looking for all the world like a whale with diarrhea had passed there. The wind is mild now, with us passing in the lee of the island. This is the bane of your life sailing the Caribbean. The islands block the wind to such an extent that you would think the wind is fickle, when it is just the effect of the islands.

We passed close to the island of Barbados, perhaps fifteen miles away. But we could not really see land due to heavy rain clouds and squalls. The clouds eventually cleared enough that we could see the silhouetted outline of the island against the clouds.

Our voyage has now taken a turn. We are now back in civilisation and we can listen to the local FM radio stations. Not that you will really want to. They play reggae and calypso style music all day long. One gets an overload on short notice.

My sextant navigation is now basically over. Today was overcast, so no sun sights were possible. And the weather was hazy enough to prevent bearings of land marks to be taken. Although we could perhaps have taken a bearing or two off the ends of the island. A bit optimistic under the prevailing conditions, but possible. We shall save these for another day.

We have heard from home that there was a hurricane in the USA, specifically Florida. This makes life interesting, as this is exactly where we are going. We shall take a good look at the weather before leaving St Maarten, so as to get a slot between hurricanes. Literally. I would not have ever dreamt that I would one day be dodging hurricanes.

I hope there will be a marina left by the time we get there!

Sourdough Seed Loaf

I made another sourdough loaf today, adding seeds and raisins. The sourdough starter was mixed during my 00h00 to 03h00 watch and left to proof until daylight. While this is not overnight, bear in mind that the ambient temperature is still over 28ºC/82ºF, so you get a fast reaction from your favourite sourdough.

The sourdough proof was used this morning to make the final dough mix, which was left in the cold oven aboard to rise. This afternoon around 15h00 the dough had more than doubled in volume, so I kneaded it down, shaped it into two small loaves and left it to rise for another two hours. Some shallow cuts were made on top of the loaves to help with even oven spring and the top surfaces wetted with water before the oven was turned on. These loaves also started baking in a cold oven, like all my other loaves. They were baked for forty minutes before the heat was turned off, then left in the oven for another twenty minutes before removal for final cooling. Today, incidentally, I took the loaves out to cool, then promptly put them back in the now lukewarm oven, as preparations for dinner was about to start and the space was sorely needed. No harm done, the loaves just cooled in the oven.

Ingredients

For the starter sponge

1 cup sourdough

1 cup rye flour

½ cup lukewarm water

For the dough

2 cups rye flour

1 cup brown bread flour

1 cup white bread flour

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup mixed seeds. Mine was pumpkin, sunflower and flax seed.

1 cup lukewarm water

1 teaspoon salt

Process

Mix all the dry ingredients. Add the sourdough starter sponge. Mix thoroughly. Add about half of the water. I added too much water, with the result that the dough swallowed another cup worth of flour off the kneading board. Hence the extra cup of white bread flour in the list of ingredients.

Turn the dough out on the well floured kneading board when it becomes too stiff to mix with a wooden spoon. Knead for about fifteen minutes until the dough becomes satiny. Wet your hands and pat the dough into a flat ball, then cover the wetted dough ball and leave to rise for 8-12 hours. In my case, the weather played along with the aggressive sourdough and the rise time for these loaves was less than that.

Roll the dough out onto the floured kneading board and knead it back to the original volume. Shape into the final shape and leave to rest for another 2 hours. Cut the surface of the loaves and then bake as per your favourite oven regime.









This blog also linked to Yeastspotting!

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12

2nd Leg Day 27: Full Sails, a Barber Shop and Thai Fish Curry

The wind stayed constant during the night and the swells subsided sufficiently for us to put up the mainsail for the first time on this voyage. Today is the first time that we had the wind on the beam and small enough seas to enable us to use the mainsail. Much excitement on board!

We woke the skipper at 07h00 this morning to make his usual Monday morning call to the office in Cape Town. I prepared the mainsail while he was doing the administration thing with the office. Then it was time to hoist the mainsail. The boat was pointed into the wind and we started hoisting, but got some lines twisted. After these tangles and twisted lines were sorted, we hoisted and set the sails, turned back on course and voila!, we were sailing merrily along at around eight knots. The boat has a totally different motion through the water with a lot less banging of the water against the underside of the bridge. The sailing experience is all the more enjoyable.


Today I took what is probably my penultimate sextant sun sights for this voyage. I normally take two sights and plot both to get an idea of my own errors. Today the two lines of position so obtained coincided. While one may think this is good measuring practice, bear in mind that the sun moved for two minutes between the sights, so there should actually be a slight difference. In spite of this, I still have a warm feeling about these sights.

It is shower day today, so we decided to open the barber shop before we took our baths. Some idea in the back of our heads not to look like the ancient mariner or a bunch of dirty scruffy Caribbean sea gypsies, I guess. I have cropped heads before, but not on a bobbing and heaving boat. One needs to be very alert with the clipper and be sitting down when using it. We all had a turn to be cropped. The results appear to be quite presentable, despite the conditions and our level of proficiency.

Or lack thereof.


We now look like scruffy Cape Town sea gypsies that took a crop and a bath.

Today was my turn at the galley again. I made Thai fish curry with savoury rice. I used a mix of half a cup of brown and wild rice and some long grain rice. Just for the texture and to use up all the leftovers. It makes sense and is suited to the dish. Next time I shall bring basmati -, bimri - or jasmine rice or all of the aforementioned. The dish also contains some fresh garden peas. This is in lieu of some exotic Thai green stuff, whatever the description. Call it chef's license.

Thai Fish Curry with Savoury Rice

Ingredients

For the Fish

400 g fish fillets

1 onion, chopped

1 dessert spoon green masala (Recipe here)

1 dessert spoon masala powder

½ teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds

1 packet coconut powder

½ cup warm water for the coconut powder

1 cardamom (elachi) pod, shelled

1/4 teaspoon coriander (dhania) seeds

¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

small piece cinnamon bark

1 teaspoon gharum masala

½ teaspoon saffron essence

½ cup fresh garden peas

½ teaspoon salt

dollop of cooking oil or ghee

For the Rice

1 cup of long grain rice.

¼ cup of lentils. Texture again.

½ teaspoon aniseed seeds

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups water

Process

Put the rice, lentils, water, aniseed and salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer until the rice is done and all the water boiled away or absorbed. You may add a little water every now and then as required. You don't want to rinse the rice, as you will lose the aniseed.

Marinate the fish in the green masala for 20-30 minutes. Start with a dry frying pan or wok. I used a wok. Heat the wok and add the whole dry spices. Fry the dry spices until the flavour comes out, then add a dollop of cooking oil or ghee. Reduce the heat and mix the spices and oil to ensure proper flavouring of the oil. Then add the chopped onion and fry until it goes glassy. Add the dry powder masala and fry until the flavour comes out, then add the marinated fish and fry until the fish is nicely done. Add the coconut milk which you made using the cup of hot water, the coconut powder and the saffron essence. Add the garden peas. Reduce the heat and simmer for another five to ten minutes, then add the gharum masala. If you happen to have fresh coriander leaves, you can add some at this stage as a garnish. Turn off the heat and let the dish rest for ten minutes to develop flavour.

Bon appetit!

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12