Quote from: chewytikka on January 27, 2016, 01:24 AM...Adraki Prawn on Puri for a late supper...

Very nice! Could have gone one of those for breakfast instead of my toast and peanut butter.

Quote from: Micky Tikka on January 26, 2016, 10:31 PM
Very underated...the humble pea 

Nothing wrong with a pea, MT. Side, soup or ingredient. Very fond of them I am!

Quote from: Madrasandy on January 25, 2016, 07:54 AM...Anyone used nutmeg in a mix powder before?

I used mace in the pork vindaloo paste at the weekend, but I usually reserve nutmeg for soups and carbonara.

Quote from: Stephen Lindsay on January 22, 2016, 09:12 PM
I agree with your comment about regional differences jb - the Pathias in my area (NE Scotland) tend towards a more tomato red colour.

Do you reckon the local chefs use tomato, Stephen, or is it red food colouring? Or both?

Quote from: chewytikka on January 24, 2016, 03:06 PM
Good looking Indian Curry/Stew Mr.Naga

I

Wow! I'd completely forgotten about the cucumber! 

Quote from: Secret Santa on January 23, 2016, 07:48 PM...Hopefully you used a fairly fatty piece of pork as that's what the vinegar was originally in the dish for; to counter the fattiness of the pork and in turn the fat mellows the acidity of the vinegar to the point of it not being noticeable.

Unfortunately those not in the know, many of whom are BIR chefs it would seem, overdo the vinegar or lemon and the dish comes out tasting sour and unfortunately this seems to have caught on....

I think I was pretty lucky to hit upon a recipe that 'looked right' to my way of thinking - I looked at loads of vindaloo recipes before settling on this one. Just out of interest, the pork was a 1kg pre-packaged 'Strathvale' shoulder joint from Lidl. It looked really good through the cellophane and even better when I got it on the chopping board. It cooked beautifully, didn't lose size or shape and was tasty and tender on the plate. Highly recommended!

And you're right about the fat, SS. I removed the thick rind from the shoulder joint, but I like to leave a bit of fat on my meat for flavour so I didn't go mad with the trimming.

I remember at the time friends and relatives bumming about the red-hot, ring-stinger vindaloo curries in the 70's and so have made it my business never to have a vindaloo from a T/A or restaurant. I'm going to change that soon, but from what you say, maybe I've been lucky all these years!

Quote from: littlechilie on January 23, 2016, 05:46 PM...I am finding myself heading in a more traditional style of cooking nowadays..

Aye, me too. Making BIR dishes will remain a mainstay for my curries, but I've tried too many traditional and traditional-style recipes now not to consider them as part of my cookery repertoire. Apart from the overnight marinade (which I do for BIR pre-cooking anyway) the Pork Vindaloo was no more difficult to make than the Stifado I made for tonight's dinner. And it only took half as long in the cooking!

Quote from: Gav Iscon on January 23, 2016, 05:08 PM
Nice looking curry Naga. Will have to give it a go.

I would definitely go for the the 2011 recipe from My Indian Kitchen if you're going to try it, Gav. The 2015 recipe from The Cafe Spice Cookbook uses a different spice mix and a different (inferior, IMHO) curry paste.

With all the talk about Vindaloo lately, I became interested in reading up about the dish. I came across a recipe by Hari Nayak from his book, My Indian Kitchen: Preparing Delicious Indian Meals without Fear or Fuss and thought I'd have a go at it. I later found out that he produces a similar, but not identical, Pork Vindaloo recipe in his latest book, The Cafe Spice Cookbook which can be found on Google Books here. Inconveniently, the spice mix isn't shown, but the recipe can be found here for anyone interested.

I chose this recipe as it seemed to loosely combine elements of traditional cooking with the sort of thing that would be done in the home nowadays. It uses a freshly roasted and ground spice mix in the meat marinade and a freshly prepared paste at the cooking stage.



What was it like? Well, it was delicious! Deep, deep mouth-warming flavours - not sour or vinegary at all - and nice contrasting textures of potato and pork. Apart from South Indian Garlic Chilli Chicken, this is probably the hottest curry I've eaten to date - and I thought it was brilliant! My fellow diners, however, and despite good intentions, made manful (and womanful!) attempts, but failed to reach the finish line. Both really enjoyed the flavours of the curry before their heads exploded!