Mori mutton also known as moryechi xacuti is a spicy and delicious Goan shark fish curry. Baby shark is marinated in green masala and cooked in a curry made of onion, spices and coconut. This can be served with rice or Indian bread like roti or chapati or slice bread.
Whenever my in laws visited us in Bangalore, my father-in-law used to get variety of fish and ask my mom in law to prepare different dishes for us. He used to think that we don’t know to prepare Goan fish recipes here. During the initial days after marriage, I did not know to cook fish. But soon I learnt it. But still my father-in-law used to feel that we are missing all the yummy fish from Goa and hence my mom in law used to make several types of Goan fish recipes. That was how I learnt to make today’s dish i.e., Mori Mutton or Goan Shark curry or moryechi xacuti. In Goa, shark fish is called Mori in Konkani. Also, we have used baby shark or small shark fish not the huge ones that swim in the oceans 🙂
You might like other Goan fish recipes like:
- Goan prawns’ curry
- Goan mackerel uddamethi
- Goan king fish fry (visvon fry)
- Prawns pickle (prawns balchao)
- White sardines sukha (vellyache sukhe)
- Prawns’ pulao in coconut milk
My mom in law would always sort out the ingredients separately and keep all of them handy while cooking her Goan recipes. I too do the same now. I miss my father-in-law. I wish he was here with me in Bangalore to taste the “Mori Mutton” as he would always say.
My hubby brought 1/2 kg cleaned and de-skinned shark pieces from fish market in Bangalore and asked me to make the same baby shark curry which my mom in law would make. It was the first time that I cooked shark. Yea, it was a baby shark.
Also check out Top 10 Goan fish curry recipes.
Ingredients used in making shark in garam masala:
- Shark: Use fresh, tender baby shark in this recipe.
- Coconut: In this recipe, freshly grated coconut is used.
- Spices: Indian spices like black peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, Kashmiri dry red chilies, turmeric powder, garlic cloves, coriander seeds and tamarind are used in making this Goan style shark curry tangy and spicy.
- Onion: We have used 2 medium sized red onions in this recipe.
- Oil: Use any type of cooking oil like coconut oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, etc.For marination:
- Coriander leaves: Coriander leaves or cilantro are used in this recipe for making the Goan green masala to marinate shark fish.
- Spices: We have used spices like ginger, garlic, turmeric powder and red chili powder along with coriander leaves. If you have Malvani masala, you can add 1 tablespoon of it in this recipe to make Malvani mori masala.
How to make baby shark curry?
- Clean the baby shark and remove its skin entirely. Chop into 1–2-inch pieces.
- I got the shark cleaned, de-skinned and chopped from the fish stall at the supermarket.
For marination:
- Wash the shark pieces and apply turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt.
- Blend and make a paste by adding coriander leaves, ginger and garlic pods and 1/2 cup water. (Refer to the marination section ingredients list).
- Apply this green masala paste to the chopped baby shark pieces. Keep it aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the freezer.
For the gravy:
- Chop the onions into small pieces and keep aside.
- In a pan/kadai/wok, add oil and roast the spices (garam masala) like black peppercorns, cloves, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick and red chilies for 2 minutes.
- After the spices are roasted, add 3/4 of the chopped onions and fry till they become pinkish.
Add chopped garlic and fry till raw smell of garlic goes away. - Next add grated coconut and roast it low flame till coconut gets brownish.
- Add tamarind, stir and immediately switch of the gas.
- After switching off the gas add turmeric powder and mix well.
- Grind this to a gravy of medium consistency by adding 1 cup water or as needed after cooling. Keep it aside.
- In a wok or kadai, add 3 tablespoon oil and fry the remaining chopped onions. Once they turn pinkish, add the green masala marinated baby shark pieces and fry for 10 minutes.
- Pour the ground gravy into this onion shark mixture and let it get cooked for 30 minutes on low flame. Keep stirring in between to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the kadai.
- After 30 minutes or after the shark pieces are cooked, add salt to taste and garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.
Notes to remember while making moryechi xacuti:
- Add salt slightly lesser than needed as shark contains salt in it.
- Be sure to de-skin the shark in fish stall itself. The skin is very hard and is difficult to remove at home.
- If the shark does not get cooked within 30 minutes, simply remove the shark pieces from the curry and pressure cook it for 5-6 whistles by adding 1 cup water. Later mix the pressure-cooked shark pieces in the gravy.
- Serve with rice, pav or chapatis.
Also check other xacuti recipes like chicken xacuti and mushroom xacuti.
Tips to buy baby shark fish for shark fish curry:
Always remember to buy tender pieces of shark while buying. Get it de-skinned and chopped as it is very tough to de-skin at home. Ensure that the skin is completely removed. Also do not buy the double mouthed shark, just a single mouth one should be bought for consuming. My family does not eat the double mouthed ones, we call them “toki”.
Marinating fish to make moriche mutton:
Baby shark fish stinks a lot. So, it is very important to marinate it. Just simple application of red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt does not help. We have to marinate it just like we do for chicken. That is what my mom in law told me. Hence, we use the Goan green masala paste for marinating shark.
Mother in laws tips for cooking Goan style shark curry:
If the shark is very hard, it won’t cook soon unlike other small fish like anchovies or mackerel which cooks very soon. In those cases, it is recommended to pressure cook the marinated baby shark pieces in a pressure cooker and later to add them to the dish after frying onions.
The baby shark curry recipe tastes awesome and spicy. All the flavors of various spices blended well into the shark curry. The mori masala recipe tastes even better on the next day but remember to add less salt as the shark already has lot of salt content in it and releases more salt into the fish curry. Enjoy this Goan fish curry with rice or chapatis or just make some Goan pav and have a great meal.
Mori Mutton | Moryechi Xacuti | Baby Shark Curry
Ingredients
- 1/2 kg small shark/baby shark
- 2 cups coconut grated
- 8 peppercorns
- 3 cloves
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 6 Kashmiri dry red chilies
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 2 medium sized onions finely chopped
- 5 tablespoon Oil or as needed
- 1 marble sized ball tamarind
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
For Marination:
- 1 small bunch cilantro/coriander leaves
- 1 inch ginger
- 15 garlic pods
- 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
- 2 tablespoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Clean the baby shark and remove its skin entirely. Chop into 1-2 inch pieces.
- I got the shark cleaned, de-skinned and chopped from the fish stall at the supermarket.
For marination:
- Wash the shark pieces and apply turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt.
- Blend and make a paste by adding coriander leaves, ginger and garlic pods and 1/2 cup water. (Refer to the marination section ingredients list).
- Apply this green masala paste to the chopped baby shark pieces. Keep it aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the freezer.
For the gravy:
- Chop the onions into small pieces and keep aside.
- In a pan/kadai/wok, add oil and roast the spices(garam masala) like black peppercorns, cloves, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick and red chilies for 2 minutes.
- After the spices are roasted, add 3/4 of the chopped onions and fry till they become pinkish.
- Add chopped garlic and fry till raw smell of garlic goes away.
- Next add grated coconut and roast it low flame till coconut gets brownish.
- Add tamarind, stir and immediately switch of the gas.
- After switching off the gas add turmeric powder and mix well.
- Grind this to a gravy of medium consistency by adding 1 cup water or as needed after cooling. Keep it aside.
- In a wok or kadai, add 3 tablespoon oil and fry the remaining chopped onions. Once they turn pinkish, add the green masala marinated baby shark pieces and fry for 10 minutes.
- Pour the ground gravy into this onion shark mixture and let it get cooked for 30 minutes on low flame. Keep stirring in between to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the kadai.
- After 30 minutes or after the shark pieces are cooked, add salt to taste and garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.
Notes
- Add salt slightly lesser than needed as shark contains salt in it.
- Be sure to de-skin the shark in fish stall itself. The skin is very hard and is difficult to remove at home.
- If the shark does not get cooked within 30 minutes, simply remove the shark pieces from the curry and pressure cook it for 5-6 whistles by adding 1 cup water. Later mix the pressure cooked shark pieces in the gravy.
- Serve with rice, pav or chapatis.
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Note: This post was originally published on 13-Aug-2015 and is republished.
madam,this is one of the best recipes.i also make a similar version,only my family prefers the shark to be cut up into centimeter sized cubes,i suppose this helps cook the meat faster.
Thanks Meena