- Merrill
Last week, my husband and I returned to snowy Brooklyn from a two-week adventure in East Africa. Our belated honeymoon had been a truly magical trip -- full of animal sightings, expansive landscapes, gorgeous sunsets, and for the most part, great food. We ate well throughout, but it wasn’t until we got to our last stop, the Kenyan beachfront paradise, Kiwayu Safari Village, that we were truly wowed by the food.
Every morning, a couple of the hotel workers would steer a little outboard into open water to pluck fresh seafood from the Indian Ocean, which was then cooked up for our lunch and dinner. In the five days that we were there, we had fresh crab, lobster, calamari, octopus, grouper, snapper, tuna, seaweed, dorade and oysters. And I'm probably forgetting a few other things.
Although food52 -- and home -- were more than 7000 miles away, I somehow had the presence of mind to ask the chef for a few of my favorite recipes. He gave me three, and I will publish them here, one at a time, over the next few weeks. While most of us don’t have the luxury of fish pulled from the ocean the very same day we're going to eat it, believe me when I say it is crucial to buy really fresh seafood for these recipes. It makes all the difference.
The first recipe is an Indian dish, a traditional Goan curry called a caldine. At the beach in Kenya, we had it with tuna, but it is often made with shrimp, which you can easily substitute here. All you need is some rice and a big salad, and you’ve got a great meal.
Tuna Caldine
Adapted from Kiwayu Safari Village
Serves 6
- 3 tamarind pods
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoons ground almonds
- 2 teaspoons turmeric
- 4 tablespoons peanut oil
- 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
- Salt
- 1 1/4 cups coconut milk
- 3 serrano chiles, seeded and thinly sliced
- Juice of one large lime
- 1 1/2 pounds excellent quality tuna, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional, for garnish)
- Rice, for serving
28 Comments on Tuna Caldine:
How interesting! Goan Cuisine (regional Indian) has the same dish made with fish or prawns.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoYes, this is originally a Goan recipe (see last paragraph above). In East Africa, seems they've adopted a lot of Indian dishes.
do you have your itinerary? I love to collect for future trips!
Welcome back! This recipe does look wonderful. Looking forward to the others. What a brilliant choice for your honeymoon! I have friends there right now on a sort of way belated honeymoon (five years after they married).
oh merrill this is such a gorgeous dish- i grew up in Nairobi and the mention of this dish and your honeymoon took me back to my childhood- thank you so much. x
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThank you! We spent a couple nights in Nairobi on our trip.
OMG this looks amazing.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThanks, Winnie!
Hi. Looks like a great place and love the recipe. You mention rice and salad. Can you remember the full meal and were all the courses served at once?
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThe meal (lunch) started with a simple tomato and basil pasta, then we had the tuna with rice and a green salad. I can't remember dessert, but I think we were too full for it anyway!
Awesome, Merrill - welcome back! Can't wait to cook through this series.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThanks!
I love, love collecting recipes when I am traveling. Africa is on our list of places we are traveling to in the near future. So glad that you had a fantastic trip and thanks for sharing your souvenir!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoSo glad you're planning to go -- it's magical.
Welcome back Merrill. What a great time you had - well deserved might I add. You were right in using peanut oil, in a lot of African countries peanuts are called groundnuts so the oil is...the same! I love the 'making your own tamarind juice'. Superb!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThanks for letting me know about the peanut oil -- happy coincidence!
Looks yummy, Merrill! Where did you find tamarind pods? Last weekend at the Chinese grocery (where I can spend hours shopping btw) I picked up tamarind concentrate. Think I could use this? Also bought sweet tamarind in a red box which says "peel off ready to eat", which I felt compelled to buy. No idea what to do with this.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoWe got the pods at Whole Foods here in NYC! But I think concentrate would work too -- I'd mix a little with water -- it shouldn't be too strong or thick; you may need to eyeball it.
Amazing! I love that food was your souvenir! This looks melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I'll have to try soon!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThanks! And it really doesn't need much salt.
This sounds scrumptious. Do you think that tamarind paste in a block, or even concentrate, would make a reasonable substitute for the pods?
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoYes, if you whisked a little of the paste into hot water, I think you'd get very similar results. Maybe start with a teaspoon?
So glad you had fun and I can't wait to try this.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThank you!
Going to test this out immediately. I love the idea of making authentic and pure foods, from less industrialized countries.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoThanks!
1) SO jealous of your African adventure - it is on our bucket list (more photos please!) 2) THANK YOU for bringing back recipes 3) this sounds fabulous!!!!
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added about 1 year agoI'll definitely share some more photos in the weeks to come! Definitely make time to get to Africa -- it's amazing.
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