Chicken Vindaloo

Vindaloo is a hot and spicy dish from the Goa region of India. Its heavy use of vinegar and the traditional meat of pork are due to the Portuguese influence on the island. Vindaloo is a popular Indian restaurant meal, where it is often made with pork, beef, chicken, lamb, prawns, or vegetables such as mushrooms.

There are many variations of the vindaloo recipe. Some derivatives use potato, or vary the amounts and types of spices used. Goans scoff at the usage of any other main ingredient besides high fat content pork in vindaloo, because the flavor is very different when prepared with a main ingredient other than pork. Authentic Goan vindaloo is not a curry but more of a dry sauce-based dish, which tastes better as it ages. The authentic taste of vindaloo comes from a unique blend of the fat in the pork, the garlic, vinegar, jaggery and kashmiri chilli (this specific spice is very flavorful but not too pungent).

Vindaloo is often served with rice, chappatis, naan bread, or a combination of these. It can also be served with assorted pickles, such as aubergine or lime pickle. Given the spicy nature of the dish, it goes particularly well with raita.

Ingredients:
1/4 kg chicken
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 tea spn ginger paste
1/2 tea spn garlic paste
1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
1/2 tea spn coriander seeds
1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
1/4 tea spn fenugreek seeds
1 tea spn vinegar (I used distilled vinegar)
1 tea spn chili powder or 4-5 red chilies (increase the amount of chilies if required)
3-4 strands coriander leaves
Oil
Salt

Method:
Grind together ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, red chilies, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds to a smooth paste. Apply this paste and salt to the chicken.
Heat oil and fry onions on a low heat till the onions turn dark brown and crispy(It may help to deep fry the onions in oil to speed up the process). Take them out on a clean kitchen towel to remove all the extra oil. Grind to a paste along with vinegar. This is the dark paste that gives the color to the dish, I removed the onions a tad bit early, so they were not crisp and the color of the dish remained light. Add this to the chicken. Leave it aside for 30mins.
Heat a little oil in thick bottomed pan. Add the marinated chicken with all the marinade. Cook till chicken is tender and gravy is thickened. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Serves : 2
Preparation time : 40mins(excluding marination time)