It's a bastardised Portuguese dish from Goa that was bastardised further by British Indian restaurants which tend to use the term "vindaloo" to mean "bloody hot!". We're going to retire that British version right now and consign it to the bin it belongs in. We're going Portuguese-Goan here.
Vin = wine (i.e. vinegar)
Aloo = garlic
In other words, a dish with loads of vinegar and garlic, as I'm sure the original Portuguese version would have been back in the old country. Once it hit Indian shores, however, the locals added their own little spice and magic which resulted in quite a strange yet endearing dish.
If you really want authenticity, this dish should really be made with pork. I'm not a big pig-eater so I'll use chicken thigh meat. Thigh, not breast. Why? You need to cook it longer in the pan than a breast would allow. Thighs stay juicy. Breasts dry out. No, that wasn't a metaphor.
Serves: 4
Cost: 2.88 zl per person (58 Uk pence)
What you'll need:
- around 500g of chicken thigh meat
- a glass of wine vinegar
- 1 tsp pepper corns
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- cinnamon stick
- 6-7 cardamon pods
- 5 cloves
- 5-6 large dried red chillies
- 1-2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 inch ginger (crushed)
- 6 cloves of garlic (crushed)
- 2 onions (finely chopped)
- 1 green chilli (slit)
Shall we get to it?
1. Deseed the chillies
2. Soak the chillies in a glass of wine vinegar for 30 minutes or until soft
3. Prep the seeds and dry roast for around a minute or until you can smell the aromas. DON'T burn!
4. Powder the whole spices in a coffee grinder
5. Add the chillies and vinegar to the grinder and whizz away until you've got a fine paste
6. Marinade the chicken thigh pieces overnight in this paste
7. Prep the ingredients for cooking
8. Pound the garlic in a pestle and mortar, grate the ginger and slit the green chilli
9. Oil in a hot pan. Mustard seeds in. Snap crackle and pop.
10. Onions in. Sprinkle with salt. Cook down till golden
11. Garlic and ginger in
12. Green chilli in
13. Turmeric in
14. Chicken
15. Swill out the marinade bowl with water and add. Cook down on a low heat for around 20 minutes
16. Check the seasoning. Ready to serve! Goes nicely with basmati rice.
Costing:
- chicken: 7.50 zl
- rice: 2.40 zl
- the rest: 1.60 zl
Total: 11.50 zl
Serves: 4
Per person: 2.88 zl
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