Topic: What dominates the flavour?

[Vindaloo-crazy]

I can vouchsafe that none of the vindaloos I have eaten in Merseyside, Manchester or Bolton have had vinegar in them; a few have had potatoes, sure, but not the majority by a long shot. To me a vindaloo is just a seriously spiced up madras.

[Secret Santa]

The KD, Under Cover, CA recipes for example, not to mention several others all specify that vinegar is used?

That would be my opening argument for why vinegar should not be used!

A Vindaloo is my favourite, and it should be hot, garlicky, tomatoey and bitter...

In your opinion! I'd agree on the hot and garlicky and disagree vehemently on the tomatoey and especially bitter.

[Ramirez]

Out of curiosity, SS, when cooking vindaloos what recipe do you use?

[Secret Santa]

Out of curiosity, SS, when cooking vindaloos what recipe do you use?

Whichever one I use it doesn't feature any souring agent and is low on tomato and has some spuds in it.   ;D 

[Ramirez]

Out of curiosity, SS, when cooking vindaloos what recipe do you use?

Whichever one I use it doesn't feature any souring agent and is low on tomato and has some spuds in it.   ;D 

But is it one off this site (and what base do you use with it)? I cannot remember the last time I had a vindaloo, but all this talk is giving me a hankering for one.  ;D

[JerryM]

i don't think there is a vindaloo recipe on the site or anywhere on the www. CA's is the closest i've come across. it does have vinegar in it though - like Secrete Santa i don't think it's used in the BIR version (of course i have no knowledge to back this up only my taste buds).

i don't see vindaloo as a supped up madras. it's very different. very little tom puree and probably a harder frying of the spices to give a darker appearance. if there is vinegar then it's very little - i'd put money on lemon dressing.

the lip burn and my attempts at stuffing more chilli powder into a portion tell me fresh green chilli must be a major part of the dish.

also we once asked in a restaurant what made a phall so hot - the chef sent out a plate of those smaller variety of the green chilli.

the potato is irrelevant to me too - adds nothing to the flavour - just a talking point (somehow the heat intensifies within it).

i think Panpots ashoka North Indian Garlic sauce may move us closer towards the BIR dish yet it contains yes "vinegar". something i plan to work on in the future.

[solarsplace]

The KD, Under Cover, CA recipes for example, not to mention several others all specify that vinegar is used?

That would be my opening argument for why vinegar should not be used!

A Vindaloo is my favourite, and it should be hot, garlicky, tomatoey and bitter...

In your opinion! I'd agree on the hot and garlicky and disagree vehemently on the tomatoey and especially bitter.

Hi SS

Please tell me where you live (roughly I mean) so I can ponder if there may be some regional trend that differs to mine in the SE.

Several of my favourite TA's and restaurants in the SE in particular Surrey & Hampshire serve their Vindaloo as a completely different beast to a spiced up madras. Now - I'm not saying a spiced up Madras is wrong - far from it, sounds delightful! but I personally have come to know through years of love for the Vindaloo that it to my taste buds is a bitter and hot beast with more tom puree at least (I think) than a Madras and definitely some kind of souring agent. MY fav local TA just 100 meters away also adds something like Aniseed to theirs - it is so bitter and lovely

If you would be good enough to suggest a recipe for me to look at that is even somewhat close to your idea of a Vindaloo, then I would appreciate that for educational purposes if nothing else.

Regards

Russell

[Stephen Lindsay]

To me a vindaloo is just a seriously spiced up madras.

That's what the Bruce Edwards recipe for Vindaloo is - a Madras with extra chilli powder and optional potato.

[Vindaloo-crazy]

Exactly, it's like Razor said in a recent post, they only really serve one curry it's just that they vary the chilli contant and use different ingredients to make them different. Most of them are just a variation of the basic chicken curry.