Chicken Vindaloo

Lorrie in Montreal's Note:

A divine East Indian recipe for chicken,easy and delicious! A Jeff Smith--Frugal Gourmet Recipe.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 -3 ½ lb chicken , quartered and skinned
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• ghee or butter
• 3 garlic cloves , peeled and minced
• 2 cups yellow onions , finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons ginger powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds , ground
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 1 ½ teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups water

tamarind paste

• 2 tablespoons dried tamarind , mixed with
• 2 tablespoons hot water , worked through a sieve, discarding the seeds

Directions:

1. Salt and pepper the chicken quarters. Heat a large frying pan and brown the chicken in the Ghee. You will have to do this in two batches.
2. Remove the chicken to a 6-quart stove-top covered casserole, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the garlic and onion to the pan and sauté until golden brown. Add to the casserole along with the ginger, cumin, mustard seed, cinnamon, cloves, turmeric, cayenne, and paprika. Sauté all for a few minutes and add all the remaining ingredients except for the garnishes. Cover and simmer until the chicken is tender. about 45 minutes. Stir a few times during cooking; partially remove the lid during the last 10 minutes or so to thicken the sauce. Top with garnishes.
3. Ghee: Butter that is cooked to separate the clear butter fat from the milk solids and moisture, an ingenious method that allows butter to keep for long periods of time.
4. Tamarind: Tamarind paste and concentrate, fresh products, are available in the produce section of many ethnic markets. Both products, made from the tamarind pod, need to be reconstituted.

Reviews

[Lerlene]

Delish!! I used boneless/skinless breasts (just personal preference), but didn't change anything else. The store I shop at didn't have tamarind powder, but had the whole pods. I wasn't too sure what to do with them, but I took them out of the shell, pulled off the strings, removed the seeds and squished them using my hands in a little water, then strained. Dish came out fine, so I guess I did OK. Couldn't tell by the recipe what was supposed to be garnish? I threw it all in the skillet. Boyfriend that "didn't like Vindaloo" says I should make this again. Good stuff.

[Chef Dudo]

Very good. Took the suggestion of some reviewers and added a can of crushed tomatoes, halved the amount of water and used just half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. To my surprise it was not as spicy hot as I would have thought which makes me reconsider and I will use the full amount cayenne pepper next time. In the stores here reconstituted tamarind is readily available so of course I used that. Very good indeed.
Thanks for posting.

[coffeecat2150]

Amazing! Tastes like it came from an Indian restaurant! I made this with lamb stew meat. If you're using lamb I recommend you cook it for 1 1/2 to 2 hours and let the sauce reduce uncovered for the last hour of cooking time so it gets that wonderful stewlike consistency.