Chicken Vindaloo (Balsamic vinegar style)

Confessions of a quickly turning Goan

It's really a sign of turning Goan when you choose to make your own Vindaloo, and you dare to improvise and adopt new flavours in your own kitchen, than just go out and get some Vindaloo!

This is another original recipe concocted by Anand, after much trial and error and permutations and combinations. But the winning factor, I think, is the use of Balsamic vinegar, as opposed to regular vinegar.

Believe him, like I did, and try this one out.

What you need:
900 gms diced chicken

For the spice mixture
1.5 teaspoon black peppercorns
1.5 teaspoon mustard seeds (black)
1.5 teaspoon cumin
2 medium sized stick of cinnamon
6 cardamom pods
10 cloves
6 red chillies (vary as per capacity for spice)
1 petal star anise
1 bay leaf

For the marinade
3/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons freshly crushed ginger + garlic
1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar
5 tablespoons tomato puree

For the curry
2 teaspoons coriander powder
2 large onions diced
2-3 medium tomatoes diced

What you need to do:
Wash, chop and get your chicken ready to marinade in a non-metallic bowl.

To prepare the spice mixture, begin by roasting all the whole dry spices on a low flame for about 5-6 minutes, till the aroma wafts through your kitchen.

Set aside to cool, and then grind to a fine powder.

Add the turmeric and salt to the chicken. Quickly crush up some fresh ginger and garlic (about 3 teaspoonfuls) and add it in too.

Next, in goes the Balsamic vinegar, followed by the puree.

Then, add in the spices and mix well with your fingers, so the chicken is evenly coated and sinks into the marinade.

Cover up in foil, and let this sit for up to 8 hours. Marinading it overnight usually results in wonderful deeply flavourful Vindaloo. But if you're badly planned like me anything from 4-8 hours should do.

In a pressure cooker add some oil and sauté onions till translucent. Add the coriander powder and stir till lightly cooked.

Next, throw in the diced tomatoes and cook till slightly soft.

Then, pour in the chicken with the marinade. Add water at this stage if necessary. cook for a short while and then shut with the pressure weight on.

Pressure cook for about 10 minutes on high and 10-15 minutes on sim. Once open, add salt if necessary.

Done!

This Vindaloo turned out darker than is usually is, presumably because I used Balsamic vinegar. However, it didnt disappoint. So much so that I'm considering pre-preparing the spice mix in bigger quantities, to enable making it more often.

It is best enjoyed, as we had it, with pao on the side. And if you can get your hands on Goan Poi, there's really nothing like it :P

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Fish Curry and Fried Fish.

The perfect Sunday lunch: Granny's fish curry, fried fish and rice

After VC turned non-vegetarian again, it has been almost as if his sole preoccupation in life (aside from work, of course) is food. IE: what shall we eat next? Food/meals/cuisine/culinary choices and experiments have become his biggest preoccupation. I dont blame him though..after years of nothing paneer, mushrooms and baby corn, allowing himself meat again must feel like stepping into utopia.

So today, we decided to attempt the proverbial Fish Curry and Fried Fish combination at home. This was my first time buying fish, cutting cleaning and marinating fish, and cooking it all alone. VC helped, and I wouldnt have been able to do it otherwise. This was a joint effort in every sense.

I consulted my Granny for advice on what fish to buy, how much to buy and of course HOW to make it. I was astonished at how simple it sounded, and even turned out to be once i tried my hand at it! I bought a pair of white pomfrets, and we were set! At the risk of sounding immodest, I must say that the end result was pretty satisfactory for Fish Curry and Fried Fish virgins that we are!

Fried Fish

What you need (for about 6 pieces)
Freshly squeezed tamarind pulp
Red chilli powder
Garlic paste
Turmeric
Salt

Rice flour
Rava

What you need to do
Mix together the above ingredients and apply on the fish evenly. Let the fish sit in the marinade for atleast 2 hours.



When ready to fry, make a mixture of rice flour and rava. This powder, when coated on the fish gives it the crispiness you want. Dab the fish in the powder and coat it evenly on all sides. Shallow fry in a pan till golden brown and crisp!



Fish Curry

What you need (for about 6 pieces to serve 2 hungry people)
Juice of half a lime
Turmeric
Salt

3/4 cup coconut
1/2 a medium sized onion chopped
4-5 dry red chillies
Freshly squeezed tamarind pulp
2-3 pods of garlic
3 tbsp whole coriander seeds

2 slit green chillies
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger

What you need to do
Marinate the fish in a mixture of the lemon juice, salt and turmeric and allow it to sit for a couple of hours.

In the meantime, grind together the fresh coconut, chopped onion, red chillies, tamarind, garlic and coriander seeds to make a fine paste. This is the masala that is the basis of the curry.

In a pan, heat some oil. Saute the finely chopped onion till almost brown. To this, add the freshly ground masala, some water and salt. Bring this to a boil on a medium flame stirring occasionally. Turn down the flame and throw in the slit green chillies and fresh ginger. Stir it in and let it simmer for a while.

Once the masalas are cooked and the heady fragrance of the masalas takes over your senses, drop the pieces of fish in. Gently, one at a time. Pomfret usually cooks quickly and didnt take u longer than 5 minutes. The fish should be incorporating the flavours by now.

And thats pretty much all there is to it!



Done!

This is best enjoyed with steamed rice, onion and tomato salad, with lots of lime. Big hugs and a giant thank you to my dearest Ammama for helping me out today. She wished me "best of luck" too :P and assured me that it was simple enough for a novice like me to get right even in the first attempt. And she was right. My fish curry and fried fish will probably never be as good as hers, but it was pretty darn tasty to spice up our Sunday afternoon. This ones easy-peasy and if youre a fan of coastal fish curry and fried fish, you have to give it a shot!