Name: Sorak Curry Recipe
Prep time: 3 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 23 min
Ingredients: 1-2 Tablespoons Oil; 1 Green Chili Pepper (fresh, slit lengthwise); 6-8 Curry Leaves (fresh or dried); 1 Onion (sliced); 1 Tomato (diced); 1 Tablespoon Tomato Puree; 8.8 ounces Goan Curry Paste; 2 1/2 cups Water mixed with concentrated Stock; to taste Salt; Souring Agent (*see Notes)

Helene Dsouza

A flavorful 20 minute Vegan healthy sorak curry made from scratch without much hassle as it is a one-pot dish. The curry is quickly put together with the goan basic curry paste (which you can make fresh in 5 minutes and freeze!). Enjoy this curry for lunch or as a weeknight dinner, see below the recipe for VEGAN & NON-VEG serving suggestions.

Total Time: 23 minutes

5 from 9 votes

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Sorak Curry is one of those most basic curries, which a vast majority of goans make at home on a very regular basis, especially during monsoon when fish is scarce or expensive.

This one-pot vegan coconut-based curry recipe was handed down to me from my mother in law and is very easily made and ready in less than 20 minutes!

Sorak Curry Recipe - How to make basic Goan coconut curry [Vegan +Video] and a onepot 20 minute lunch dish or weeknight dinner meal. flavorful indian curry, easy to prepare from scratch and healthy! www.MasalaHerb.com

What is the Sorak Curry?

One of the most basic and well-known curries in Goa is the Sorak curry.

You will find it being prepared in most local houses and this flavorful coconut-based curry is just part of the rich Portuguese influenced food culture.

Contrary to other Goan curries such as the well-known fish curry and prawn curry, the sorak curry is prepared without any additions of proteins.

That is exactly why sorak is the most basic goan curry!

Now please don't assume basic equals boring because the curry without any proteins still does pack a punch and is highly enriched with wonderful flavors, that gives you a comforting feeling.

Some say Sorak is only prepared during monsoon because of fish scarcity, and ultimately fish rates soar in the rain flooded markets and ports.

I wouldn't say that, however, I do admit that sorak is way more commonly prepared in goan homes during the heavy rainy season, yet you will also find a good basic coconut curry during the rest of the year.

Sometimes it is prepared and served with rice, a bhaji (veg stir fry) and rechead bangde (mackerel stuffed with a spicy red sauce).

Although, sorak is really mostly reserved to goan homes as restaurants and beach shacks tend to advertise fish and meat curries regularly more in their menus, and domestic tourists, admittedly, focus on the "forbidden" food, which they can't get otherwise when surrounded by their communities.

Adding Souring Agent

What makes a Sorak so special is the fact that it is so basic but so very aromatic due to spices and another very important element, a souring agent.

Without something sour to enrich the curry, the curry would not be a sorak. Period!

In Goa, they use whatever nature gives them to sour the curry.

Very popular, and extremely local, ingredients include Cucumber tree fruit (Bimli), Tamarind paste (Imli) and Kokum skin (Mangosteen).

Other ingredients to sour your Sorak Curry

lemon/lime juice
green mango powder
fresh young green mango

Vinegar is common in Goan cooking, however, it's not used for a sorak. Vinegar is added mostly to meat curries.

So, if you don't get any of those ingredients, just use lime juice as this does the trick most of the time and the coconut-based curry tastes great, although a bit different, with the lime/lemon juice.

If you get tamarind paste or even cucumber tree fruit then use those!

Cucumber tree fruits are very seasonal and harvest season is the Indian summer, from May to June.

I try to use a souring agent that is in season when I am in Goa.

In March I usually use small green unripe mangoes because we have a lot of those.

In Europe, I would just use tamarind paste or lime juice.

So, as you can see there is seriously no rocket science behind a quality homemade basic goan coconut Curry.

Sorak Curry Ingredients

I ALWAYS use my basic goan curry paste [link to recipe] and I would suggest you do the same.

You make a batch, use one half directly and freeze the rest for another curry weeknight dinner.

It will save you time, trust me!

To make the rest of the curry easily, you just need to make sure that you use fresh ingredients such as fresh chili and curry leaves.

If you can't get fresh curry leaves then substitute with dried ones, but only if you have no other option!

I know these days you do get fresh curry leaves bundled in special Asian stores or bigger wholesale markets in Europe and generally speaking the western world.

Do not substitute curry leaves with curry powder!!

Curry powder has nothing to do with curry leaves and is a British thing [Balti Curries].

It has no place in proper Indian food, and even less in Goan curries!

The Sorak curry is a one-pot, 20 minute, a vegan and gluten-free dish that can be served as lunch or a weeknight dish with rice, vegetable stir-fries, fried vegetables or fish and spicy hot pickles (Vegans skip the fish).

For serving suggestions see below after the recipe.