Chef Avinash Martins brings Goan cuisine to life with a passion that shines through his dishes. Martins, marked by the sun and bustling markets, sources seafood and spices from the local community in Goa. He is best known for turning simple ingredients into flavorful dishes, reflecting the diverse influences of Goan cooking. As a natural storyteller, each dish narrates a tale, whisking diners away to Goa’s sandy shores and lush landscapes with every bite. The award-winning chef brought a taste of his food to a pop-up at AMPM Kolkata earlier this month, and we caught up with him on the sidelines…
My Kolkata: What does Kolkata mean to you?
Avinash Martins: One is definitely nostalgia. Secondly, I love the commonalities between Kolkata and Goa — both are fish and seafood-loving places, both have a soft-spoken sweet language, great artists and personalities, food lovers of course, and just the culture.
One Bengali dish you love?
It’s very difficult to point out one, but malai chingri is my favourite.
Favourite Kolkata street food?
First thing that comes to my mind are Nizam’s rolls!
Favourite dish on the AMPM menu?
There is a dish called the Avocado Chana Chaat, which is nice and refreshing.
One Bengali dish you would like to recreate with a Goan twist?
Well, I’ve already recreated something called Prawns who Drank the Feni. It is inspired by the daab chingri (prawns in a mustard and tender coconut gravy) so I cook my prawns in the tender coconut water, and add the malai to the curry. It’s a nice Goan curry, the soul is Goa, but the presentation has Bengal at its core.
Prawn vs Hilsa in Bengal, who’s the winner?
Hilsa (laughs).
Chef was inspired by Kolkata’s Daab Chingri and created (right) a dish called ‘Prawns who Drank the Feni’. It is served at his restaurant Cavatina in south Goa Courtesy: Avinash Martins, Yogita Uchil
The name of the book you’re working on?
Well, I still have a couple of names in the cloud. One is ‘The Offbeat Goan’, where I’ve taken lost recipes from uncles and aunties from the golden age. I’ve not zeroed down on a name yet but this is what I’m looking at — something offbeat!
Your comfort food?
Comfort food for a Goan is always curry, whether it is prawn curry, fish curry or a fish head curry for that matter. It’s the ultimate comfort food.
Current seasonal favourite ingredients?
Seasonality is beautiful. In the summer, you have a different set of ingredients. In winters, you have different tubers, pumpkins and gourds growing. Even in the rains, you’ve got leafy vegetables, seeds, and flowering fruits. So it’s an amazing combination of seasonality versus ingredients.
One dish Tiz (Avinash’s wife) makes better than you?
She’s good at what she does. She’s from the northeast so she does pork dohneiiong (pork with black sesame seeds), which is one of my favourites, and the jadoh, which is their kind of pulao made with chicken stock. She does it really well!
