Topic: CA's Chicken Vindaloo

[CurryOnRegardless]

A little tip, for vindaloo vinegar save the remains of pickled onions/gherkins and the like and use that, definitely seems to add something.

Cheers
CoR 

[Mikka1]

Hi CurryOnRegardless.

This makes sense to me thanks for posting it.  ;D I rarely ever get that stinging vinegar taste from the take out. It always seems subdued, even not present but something is there. I used Mango Pickle in one the other day.

A little tip, for vindaloo vinegar save the remains of pickled onions/gherkins and the like and use that, definitely seems to add something.

Cheers
CoR

[pforkes]

No problems with moving the files, in fact that is a good idea.

I cannot put my finger into what it was missing, when I ate it at about 5 pm (my time).  However, at about 8 pm, I was starting to feel hungry again and the vindaloo was still on the cooker (it was still in my non-stick Ikea work, with the lid on top).  It had cooled down  and so i got a spoon and ate a spoonful.  WOW!  It had really come to life!!

I've known about this for years, that if you make a curry, leave it too cool down, over night, and then heat it up the following morning that it is so much better.

For lunch I'm meeting a friend for dim sum, so the earliest I'll be able to finish the remaining vindaloo will be tonight.  So, I'm going to make another batch tomorrow, but this time I'm not going to eat it there and then, but I'm going to leave it for a few hours, then heat it up and then eat it. 

Having left it to stand for a few hours and the eating it, it was as good as anything I've eaten when I was in England.  if this theory is correct, then I'll be making more, leaving it to cool, putting it into Zip-loc bags, and freezing it, to see if that works.

[Mikka1]

Same thing here yesterday and as always. Spices get happy when I'm not looking. Right now I'm going through them and all of mine will be ground as and when I need them frankly. IT DOES make a big difference to a pot of dry spice left standing anywhere.

I'm also of the opinion for the home cook anyway to make batches of pre-made spice packs in oil that can be saved.  (Making a vindaloo paste now as it happens).
** This covers three parts.

1. Allowing the spices to sit and get happy.
2. Creates its very own spice oil.
3. Less fumbling when cooking.

I don't own a restaurant.

Also I know there are purists here. I'm going to use OLIVE OIL always from now on. ;D

[PaulP]

I've noticed myself after slogging away inhaling all those onion, garlic and spice smells during cooking that your taste and smell become totally overwhelmed.

This is definitely a problem with cooking and then immediately eating your home-cooked curries.

[jimmy2x]

i like the idea of making a spice oil, seems to make sense as the spices would all infuse together. I think it might also help to prevent burning them and ruining a curry.

once i get a madras im very happy with, i will make a batch up and give it a whirl.

Also i been thinking, apart from the garlic/ginger/coriander in the final curry dish i suspect everything else is pre-made up in a curry house. This fusing the spices with the oil for a time kinda makes sense to me. Maybe this is why some feel they get that taste using old oil scooped off the top of curries. Perhaps its just the fact they have spice infused oil that gives that taste and thus perhaps that taste can be easier made by making spice oil fresh instead.

Sure seems more healthier

[Mikka1]

Yes I think so too. That often acidic aroma hits you and your nostrils are shot totally for anything else. It could be that too PP and everyone. I know however there is a little walk between me and what I want but there is no doubt at all that I'm cooking well.

I just get annoyed when I screw things up (not often) and this most likely that has a lot to do with what you are saying PP.

Thanks for your recipes and input here. I will try probably everything.
Keep well PP.

PS. The Precooked chicken method DOES WORK. Please disregard my last posting on that. Excellent stuff, thank you.

I've noticed myself after slogging away inhaling all those onion, garlic and spice smells during cooking that your taste and smell become totally overwhelmed.

This is definitely a problem with cooking and then immediately eating your home-cooked curries.

[pforkes]

So last night I finished off the second half of the vindaloo.

Having been allowed to stand for 24-hours.  WOW! A completely different curry.  What a difference 24-hours made.

Tonight I'm going to give the korma a shot (though I like my curries on the spicy side).

[Hargiwald]

Wow, that looks delicious, but also nothing like any vindaloo I've had here in Sweden. This stuff is so confusing, but I'm going to have to give this a go next time it's curry time. It looks great and I want to see what you people think of as vindaloo.

Two questions, is it a very varied dish in BIRs too or is it just a national difference?
Oh, and here in Sweden we never seem to get vindaloos with potatoes so I've never experience that either. What do you feel that it adds to the dish?

[CurryOnRegardless]

Two questions, is it a very varied dish in BIRs too or is it just a national difference?
Oh, and here in Sweden we never seem to get vindaloos with potatoes so I've never experience that either. What do you feel that it adds to the dish?

Hi Hargiwald

I think that vindaloo is the most variable dish on the BIR menu. Not only will it vary from one establishment to another but it also depends on the time of day (or night) it's ordered and by whom. For instance, if you order a vindaloo in the early evening and there is just yourself or maybe you and your partner, you are likely to get a good, hot and sour dish with an excellent taste and pungency. However, if you roll in to the curry house after the pubs have shut on a Friday/Saturday with a bunch of rowdy drunken mates and order a "vindaloo, and make it bleedin' hot pal" you will be served up the cheapest and nastiest curry they can make but with a whole bucket load of extra hot chilli powder thrown in. Buoyed up by booze you will of course eat this vile plateful of crap so as not to end up being called a big girlie poofer by your so called mates. The true folly of all this will not become apparent until the following morning, I'm sure you don't need me to explain further.
As for the potato, legend has it that it is purely a BIR invention, the chef adding a half a boiled potato to the vindaloo so the waiter can tell the very hot curry when serving more than one dish at a time.

Cheers
CoR