One dish that you are repeatedly told to eat when in Mauritius is Vindaye.
Vindaye is mainly a mustard curry, mostly done with octopus, but is often made with assorted seafood (Calamari, shrimps, squid, crab…), and is also done with fresh or salted fish. I had tried all versions of this curry and in a variety of restaurants.
I must admit that the salted fish vindayes were not my favourite, I did not enjoy the flavour of the salted fish, but the fresh fish ones were way better. My favourites are the Octopus Vindaye, and the shrimp & calamari one. Absolutely delicious, and really must have when there. So I asked Mauritian Chef Jerry (see the introduction at the end of this recipe) to show me how vindaye is cooked. I could not be happier, or more amazed at how easy and fast it is to make!
By the time I asked for the recipe, I had already tried this curry in all its variations, but Chef Jerry’s Vindaye is by far the most delicious of all. It was so good that it had made it to my most favourite curries ever! And I did not want to hold it back from you. I mean, super fast, super easy yet delicious and impressive recipe, who wouldn’t want to have that? So I asked his permission to share the recipe here with you and here it is…
P.S. “Vindaye is very Similar to a Bengali Mustard Salmon dish (Shorshe Bata Maach), which I had tried cooked by Ishita and absolutely loved. It makes sense as Mauritian cuisine is influenced by Indian cuisine, so the two must be related somehow. However, Vindaye has a creamier curry texture than the Mustard Salmon did. Both are similar but unique in their own right and delicious. You can find the recipe for the Bengali dish here.”