Chicken Vindaloo Recipe

Recipe Ingredients

2 tsp cumin seeds, whole
1 tsp peppercorns, black
1 tsp cardamom seeds
1 cinnamon (3 in stick)
1 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds, whole
1 tsp fenugreek seeds, whole
5 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp brown sugar, light
10 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large yellow onions, peeled and cut into, half-rings
6 tbsp water
1 ginger, fresh (1-inch cube), peeled, and coarsely chopp
10 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely, chopped (or less)
1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground
1/2 tsp turmeric, ground
2 lb chicken breast (boneless), cut into, bite-sized pieces
8 oz tomato sauce
1/2 lb new potatoes, peeled and quartered

Grind cumin seeds, black pepper, cardamom seeds, cinnamon, black
mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds together in a spice grinder. In a
small bowl, combine ground spices, vinegar, salt, cayenne pepper and
brown sugar. Set aside.

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Fry onions, stirring
frequently, until they are a rich, dark brown. Remove onions with a
slotted spoon and put them in a blender. Turn off the heat, but do
not discard the oil. Add about 3 T water (or more if necessary) to
the onions and blend until you have a smooth paste. Add this onion
paste to the spices in the bowl. This mixture is the vindaloo paste.

Put the ginger and garlic in a blender. Add about 3 T water and blend
until you have a smooth paste.

Heat the remaining oil in the saucepan over medium heat. When hot,
add the ginger, garlic paste. Stir until the paste browns slightly.
Add the coriander and turmeric. Stir a few seconds. Add the chicken,
a little at a time, and brown lightly.

Add the vindaloo paste, tomato sauce and potatoes to the chicken in
the saucepan. Stir and bring to a slight boil. Cover the saucepan,
reduce heat to low and simmer for about an hour, or until potatoes
are tender. Serve over rice.

NOTES:

* Spicy chicken curry -- Nearly every Indian restaurant serves
something that it calls Chicken Vindaloo, but the dish varies greatly
from place to place. This recipe is a modification of a vindaloo
recipe that appears in Madhur Jaffrey's "Indian Cooking" (Barron's
1983). I've attempted to approximate the Chicken Vindaloo served at
The Tandoor Palace on Second Avenue in New York. Yield: serves 4-6.

* Don't undercook the onions. They should be cooked until dark
brown. If the onion paste turns out gray rather than brown, then the
onions were not cooked enough.

* This dish is very, very hot. It may not seem so at first, but the
spices have a cumulative effect that builds up over the course of the
meal.

: Difficulty: moderate.
: Time: 30 minutes preparation, 2 to 3 hours cooking.
: Precision: approximate measurement OK.

: Jim Mattson
: University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, Calif., USA
: mattson%[email protected]

: Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust

Servings: 4

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