Chicken Vindaloo:

The term ‘Vindaloo’ derives from the Portuguese dish ‘Carne de Vinha d’ Alhos’, a meat dish, usually pork shoulders, with lots of fat-on, simmered with red wine vinegar and garlic. In Portuguese Vin d’ Alho can be split into ‘Vin, Wine’ (from Latin word Vinum) , de (from Latin word de) and Alho, means ‘Garlic’ (from Latin word alium). The expression “vinha d’alhos”. The meaning of this expression is marinade in wine and garlic.The original Portuguese recipe was not a curry dish, but dry saucy dish. It used preserved pork, which is said as, tastes better when it ages. As Portuguese used to pickle their meat and used it on their long voyages, when they traveled by ship.

Vindaloo is a trademark dish to Goa now, which was a colony of Portuguese until 1962. The Goan cuisine is an interesting amalgamation of varied influences. Since wine was not widely used in Indian cooking, they replaced it with peppercorns and spices. And vinegar was their immediate substitute. Since, pork and beef is not widely eaten in India, they also replaced it with chicken and seafood. The addition of potatoes to the dish, comes as an add-on due to a linguistic false cognate. In Indian language (Hindi) ‘Aloo’ means ‘Potato’. Incidentally it was the Portuguese who first brought potatoes to India. The addition of Kashmir chili peppers gives a unique hue to the dish (modern vindaloo).

Meat Lovers:

Proceed with the recipe, replace the chicken with Pork or Beef, happy cooking:)

Vegetarian’s Listen Up:

Continue with the same recipe, just skip the chicken part, enjoy:)

Ingredients:

Chicken thigh pieces 2
Potatoes 2-3 cubed
Dry red chilies 3
Cumin seeds 2 spoons
Peppercorns 1 spoon
Cardamom pods 3
Cinnamon stick 1
Fenugreek seeds 1 spoon
Mustard seeds 1 spoon
Red wine vinegar/Apple cider vinegar 3-5 table spoons
Rock salt
Turmeric powder ¼ spoon
Chili powder 1 spoon
Kashmir chili powder 1/2 spoon
Cilantro seeds powder 1 spoon
Brown sugar 1-2 spoons
Onion 1 sliced
Ginger 2′ grated
Garlic 1 whole head – peeled & minced
Brown cardamon 2
Bay leaves 2
Oil ¼ cup + ¼ cup
Steam cooked rice to serve.

Method:

Toast the spices for a brief period. Red chilies, cumin, peppercorns, cardamom, cinnamon, fenugreek and mustard seeds. Then powder them in a blender/spice mill. (Vindaloo powder)

Now bring the spice blend in a large bowl, add salt, brown sugar and vinegar to it. Marinate chicken pieces in it.

In a wide wok, heat oil. Add bay leaves, brown cardamon and onions fry real good, until they turn brown and crisp.

Followed by ginger and garlic, fry till the raw odor leaves the pan. Now wet-grind this mixture and set aside. (Vindaloo paste)

In a wide pan, heat the remaining oil. Add the marinated meat and stir-fry for 2-4 minutes or maybe till the meat turns brown.

Now add turmeric, chili and cilantro seeds powders to it. Further add the wet-ground paste to it. Cover and cook over medium heat.

Slow cook till the meat is all tender. Let the gravy thicken and oil show up on top, remove from heat and serve to go with your plain steamed rice or rotis.