When staying on the west coast, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Lots and lots of coconuts, sunny beaches with clear waters, and beautiful white sands for miles. But one thing few people know about is that Gokarna and Ankola and indeed the entire west coast, are particularly famous for their seafood. Our resort in Gokarna has its own special collection of seafood; caught fresh every day, we have an ever-changing menu of coastal delicacies that our guests absolutely love! Here are some of the coastal seafood you get when staying at our resort in Gokarna.
Mackerel:
Known as Bangude commonly, mackerel is a common species of pelagic fish. The Indian Mackeral is one of the west coast’s staple species of seafood and is used in a variety of preparations. Mackerel has few bones and is easy on the palette which means it can be used on a variety of interesting bases. The most common usage for mackerel is to fry it! Bangude fry is one of the top dishes at our resort in Gokarna and also one of the more permanent items since it is such a common fish. We also do a fish curry with bangude along with a version of fry called the Rava fry which involves coating the fish with a crispy spicy layer of rava.
Pomfret:
A fish that is exclusively used in frying, pomfret belongs to the Bromidae family of fish that are also found in other parts of South and Southeast Asia. These large fish have interesting flavored meat that truly shines only when it is fried, so do ask for our white or black pomfret fry depending on the catch of the day. Did you know? The word for pomfret is Portuguese in nature.
Anjal/Seerfish:
You may have heard of this variety in a lot of restaurants as it is particularly popular for its meat. Anjal or Seerfish is actually a much bigger species of mackerel known as king mackerel. Anjal is the Kannada name for this fish; other parts of India call it neymeen or Vanjanam. Anjal is best used in a fry as well although we also make a curry with the soft meat that is almost completely boneless, meaning it can be enjoyed by everyone without any annoying bones to pick, no pun intended. Do ask for our Anjal fry the next time you are visiting our resort in Gokarna!
Crab:
When you’re visiting Honey Beach, chances are you’ll see a multitude of crabs on the rocks all waiting for the tide to come in. It turns out that these crabs make for excellent dining as well when caught sustainably! We have several species of crabs in India but not all can be consumed sustainably. The ones caught near our resort in Gokarna are Mud crabs that are caught locally ensuring no damage to the ecosystem. These crabs make for some of the best crab ghee roasts ever! What is this, you ask? Imagine extremely fresh crabs drenched in clarified butter and spices with some of the finest cooking skills on this side of the west coast.
Squid:
Known as Bondas in the local languages, squid is also a commonly eaten seafood here. These cephalopods are part of the same class as octopi and cuttlefish. They are tricky to get when fishing since they often squirt ink to getaway! But once the fisherman does get ahold of one, he brings it straight to us where we prepare it in the best-known dish, squid sukka: A coconut-based dish that’s spicy, mildly sweet, and made with squid that’s perfectly chewy and fresh.
Here are just a few of the day-to-day and seasonal specialties that you can find when staying at our resort in Gokarna. When will you drop by to try them for yourselves?
