Subject: RECIPE: Chicken vindaloo
From: [email-masked] (Jim Mattson)
Date: 5 Aug 88 07:09:55 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.gourmand

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.RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE CHICKEN-VINDAL M "29 Oct 87" 1988
.RZ "CHICKEN VINDALOO" "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 
.I Indian Cooking
(Barron's 1983).  I've attempted to approximate the Chicken Vindaloo served
at The Tandoor Palace on Second Avenue in New York.
.IH "serves 4\-6"
.IG "2 tsp" "whole cumin seeds" "10 ml"
.IG "1 tsp" "black peppercorns" "5 ml"
.IG "1 tsp" "cardamom seeds" "5 ml"
.IG "3 in" "stick cinnamon" "10 cm"
.IG "1\(12 tsp" "whole black mustard seeds" "8 ml"
.IG "1 tsp" "whole fenugreek seeds" "5 ml"
.IG "5 Tbsp" "white wine vinegar" "75 ml"
.IG "1 tsp" "salt" "5 ml"
.IG "1 tsp" "cayenne pepper" "5 ml"
.IG "1 tsp" "light brown sugar" "5 ml"
.IG "10 Tbsp" "vegetable oil" "150 ml"
.IG "2" "large yellow onions,"
peeled and cut into half-rings
.IG "6 Tbsp" "water" "100 ml"
.IG "1 in" "cube of fresh ginger," "2-cm"
peeled and coarsely chopped
.IG "8\-10" "cloves garlic,"
peeled and coarsely chopped
.IG "1 Tbsp" "ground coriander seeds" "15 ml"
.IG "\(12 tsp" "ground turmeric" "2.5 ml"
.IG "2 lb" "boneless chicken breast," "1 kg"
cut into bite-sized pieces
.IG "8 oz" "tomato sauce" "250 ml"
.IG "\(12 lb" "new potatoes," "250 g"
peeled and quartered
.PH
.SK 1
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.
.SK 2
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 
.AB "3 Tbsp" "50 ml"
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
.I vindaloo paste.
.SK 3
Put the ginger and garlic in a blender.  Add 
.AB "3 Tbsp" "50 ml"
water and blend until you have a smooth paste.
.SK 4
Heat the remaining oil in the saucepan over medium heat.  When hot, add
the ginger\(emgarlic 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.
.SK 5           
Add the vindaloo paste, tomato sauce and potatoes to the chicken in the
saucepan.  Stir and bring to a slight boil.
.SK 6
Cover the saucepan, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about an hour, or
until potatoes are tender.  
.SK 7
Serve over rice.
.NX
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.
.PP
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.
.SH RATING
.I Difficulty:
moderate.
.I Time:
30 minutes preparation, 2 to 3 hours cooking.
.I Precision:
approximate measurement OK.
.WR
Jim Mattson
University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, Calif., USA
[email-masked]