Xacuti (pronounced sha-kooti) is a Goan curry paste with serious credentials. It's built around toasted coconut and Kashmiri chillies, with a supporting cast of whole spices that make most other curry pastes look underdressed. Fiery, vibrant, and considerably more complex than anything from a supermarket jar.

Goan xacuti curry paste — Kashmiri chillies, star anise and coconut – The Flexible Chef

Goa's cooking reflects its history — Portuguese colonial influence layered over Indian spice traditions, producing dishes that don't quite sit anywhere else in Indian cuisine. This Goan xacuti curry paste is a good example: the coconut gives it body, the Kashmiri chillies give it colour and heat, and the combination of star anise, fennel and poppy seeds gives it a depth that's hard to place but impossible to ignore.

Everything gets toasted — coconut and spices individually and carefully, without burning — then blitzed with onion, garlic, lime juice and a little water until smooth. The Wahl grinder handles the dry spices first; the food blender takes it from there.

The Goan Xacuti Curry Paste Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 tbsp grated or desiccated coconut
• 8 dried Kashmiri chillies, broken — available online
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tbsp white poppy seeds
• 2 inch piece cassia bark or cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 2 cardamom pods, slightly crushed
• 2 star anise
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 large red onion, roughly chopped
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp sea salt
• A squeeze of fresh lime juice
• Coconut oil as needed
• A splash of water

Method

1. Toast the coconut in a dry pan over a low heat, stirring constantly, until lightly golden. Remove and set aside.
2. Toast the whole spices — coriander seeds, cumin, fennel, peppercorns, poppy seeds, cassia bark, cloves, cardamom and star anise — individually in the same pan until fragrant. Don't rush and don't burn them. Leave everything to cool completely.
3. Grind the toasted spices to a fine powder in a spice grinder.
4. Transfer to a food blender with the toasted coconut, Kashmiri chillies, onion, garlic, turmeric, lime juice, salt and a splash of water. Drizzle in coconut oil and blend until you have a smooth paste — add a little more water or oil if needed to get it moving.
5. Store in a sterilised jar with a slick of coconut oil poured over the top. Keeps well in the fridge for several weeks.

What to do with it

Use as a marinade base for chicken, lamb or fish, or stir a few tablespoons into a curry sauce for instant Goan character. A leg of lamb marinated overnight in xacuti paste and roasted slowly is a project worth planning.

Footnote This Goan xacuti curry paste recipe is part of my Curry Recipes collection — the complete guide to curries, spice blends, bases, chutneys and sides from The Flexible Chef. Explore the full Curry Recipes hub.

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