VINDALOO recipe

[georged]

Most people think Vindaloo is an Indian dish, but it is actually a European stew made by Portuguese colonists using local ingredients.

There are countless recipes, but the Real Stuff must use pork as the meat, and vinegar as the preservative/acid agent.

Though famous for being fire-hot in spice terms, that reputation evolved largely as a 20th century restaurant thing.

Which isn't to say that the authentic style is remotely close to bland or flat. Quite the opposite. It has a magical "slow burn" sort of complex, layered heat and depth of flavor that's unforgettable. The heat just isn't the cheap-and-easy "hot wing challenge" kind that anyone can add to anything from a bottle.

If you decide to give it a try, please report back.

 

[beefeater33]

Thanks G....
Gonna do thism tomorrow..............

 

[snagstangl]

I can't think of vindaloo without thinking of Red Dwarf.

 

[georged]

I forgot to mention that I first tried Vindaloo in 1987, and started making it in 1990.

There weren't many Indian cookbooks available then (and even fewer in the Midwest where I was living at the time), so Julie Sahni's recipe was about it.

The above recipe is 32 years of tuning and tweaking that began with hers, in other words. (Which is why there is so many ingredients in small amounts. Practicality from a restaurant perspective, or simplification for a home cook didn't factor into it, plus small flavor "gaps" were filled in as encountered with small additions.)

Why? Cuz I'm a perfectionist, of course, and I wanted massive, complex flavor with "slow bloom" heat that didn't stop for a half hour after finishing a meal of it. Something that made the fussiness and labor worth the hassle, and that I'd serve to a professional restaurant critic without hesitation.

I think it's finally on point. (Which is why I posted it)

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

In England we all like Vindaloo.....

 

[Flatfish]

I can't think of vindaloo without thinking of Red Dwarf.

Tried vindaloo once. Never again. Too hot for me.

 

[mawnansmiff]

From the OED...

Etymology: Probably < Portuguese vin d'alho wine and garlic sauce, < vinho vinho n. + alho garlic.

Apparently, vindaloo is a Goan dish, adapted from a Portuguese dish, as in 'carne de vinha d'alhos', or meat in a wine & garlic marinade.

Whatever, give me a lamb korma over a vindaloo any day .

Regards,

Jay.

​

 

[lukasstrifeson]

Most people think Vindaloo is an Indian dish, but it is actually a European stew made by Portuguese colonists using local ingredients.

There are countless recipes, but the Real Stuff must use pork as the meat, and vinegar as the preservative/acid agent.

Though famous for being fire-hot in spice terms, that reputation evolved largely as a 20th century restaurant thing.

Which isn't to say that the authentic style is remotely close to bland or flat. Quite the opposite. It has a magical "slow burn" sort of complex, layered heat and depth of flavor that's unforgettable. The heat just isn't the cheap-and-easy "hot wing challenge" kind that anyone can add to anything from a bottle.

If you decide to give it a try, please report back.

Wait so Hamburgers and Hotdogs aren't American either?

Most people think Hamburger is an American dish, but it is actually a European sandwich by German colonists using local ingredients.

Wow, my mind is blown.

 

[avail]

Looks interesting, but some of the ingredients would be hard to get a hold of.

 

[Winnipeger]

Thanks for posting this @georged! The only ingredient I don't have is Byadgi chilies. My own recipe is extremely similar to this, but I use black AND green cardamom in roughly equal amounts, and no tamarind paste. But I'm not opposed to trying it with tamarind. Also I use fresh ginger along with the garlic and onions, and I usually garnish with some fenugreek leaves towards the end of the cooking time. That's just my 2 cents. I trust you've put a lot of thought into this. I don't write down any of my own recipes. They're just in my head and I'll probably take them to the grave with me. My first Indian cookbook was Madhur Jaffrey's "An Invitation To Indian Cooking" over 30 years ago. I was probably about 12 years old when I bought that book. Many ingredients were hard to source in those days. Remember how hard it was for Sam Malone to source black cardamom for his stolen Bloody Mary recipe? Hahaha. Anyway, I'll give your recipe a go at some point in the near future. Cheers!

 

[kcghost]

You lost me at "refrigerate 48 hours". You're five to six days to prepare this thing. Hot wings on table five, please.

 

[georged]

You lost me at "refrigerate 48 hours". You're five to six days to prepare this thing. Hot wings on table five, please.

O ye of diminutive adventuresome spirit. Thou art doomed to culinary drabness-ity...

That said, first-rate hot wings are pretty damn good.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

Most people think Vindaloo is an Indian dish, but it is actually a European stew made by Portuguese colonists using local ingredients.

There are countless recipes, but the Real Stuff must use pork as the meat, and vinegar as the preservative/acid agent.

Though famous for being fire-hot in spice terms, that reputation evolved largely as a 20th century restaurant thing.

Which isn't to say that the authentic style is remotely close to bland or flat. Quite the opposite. It has a magical "slow burn" sort of complex, layered heat and depth of flavor that's unforgettable. The heat just isn't the cheap-and-easy "hot wing challenge" kind that anyone can add to anything from a bottle.

If you decide to give it a try, please report back.


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Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

 

[vates]

Most people think Vindaloo is an Indian dish, but it is actually a European stew made by Portuguese colonists using local ingredients.

There are countless recipes, but the Real Stuff must use pork as the meat, and vinegar as the preservative/acid agent.

Though famous for being fire-hot in spice terms, that reputation evolved largely as a 20th century restaurant thing.

Which isn't to say that the authentic style is remotely close to bland or flat. Quite the opposite. It has a magical "slow burn" sort of complex, layered heat and depth of flavor that's unforgettable. The heat just isn't the cheap-and-easy "hot wing challenge" kind that anyone can add to anything from a bottle.

If you decide to give it a try, please report back.


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Thank you!

 

[georged]

Something just occurred to me.

Info bit for first timers: black cardamom is sold both shelled and whole, and I didn't specify.

While whole black cardamom is used as-is in many recipes, in this one the outer shell must be pried open (think almond-sized black shaggy clamshells) and only the little clusters of BBs inside used.

In Indian cooking, when black cardamom is specified by volume (in this case one teaspoon) it means just the BBs. When specified by count, it means the entire shell plus its contents.

 

[LotusEater]

Thanks for posting this sounds awesome.

 

[sasquatch]

Huh. I love vindaloo, have since the 90s stumbling around in England post-pub and finding only curry places still open. But I know it as a tomato-based evil-hot sauce. Never even heard of byadagi chillis before... now have to hunt some down!

 

[georged]

Never even heard of byadagi chillis before...

They are the chili of choice in the southern Indian states, the same way Kashmiri chilis are in the north.

Amazing little beasties. Not mild, exactly, but not particularly hot either, meaning they can be used in sufficient quantity to actually add their complex flavor to dishes in addition to heating things up.

 

[sasquatch]

That's why I like Jerk so much too, just crazy flavor, all over the map. Citrus, allspice, habenero....