Chicken Vindaloo- Guest Post for Steamy Kitchen

By
Prerna Singh
-

You must have noticed there’s a little less action on Indian Simmer lately. Not so frequent posts and a little less recipes but trust me a lot is going on behind the scenes. I have been working on some projects and also cooking food requested by some friends from the blogging world. Friends who have been patiently putting up with me for weeks and months. And friends who have honored me by offering a space in their gorgeous websites to guest post. A few weeks back one such email came from someone with the email address jaden at steamykitchen.com and it said will you “guest post for me?” My first reaction was to check whether that was really written to me. Why? Because never in my wildest dreams would I expect that JADEN from STEAMY KITCHEN would ask little me to guest post on her blog. And even when I found out that it was actually Jaden, I was in complete disbelief! Just like millions of other bloggers and food lovers, I have always been inspired by Jaden. It is an honor to be featured on Steamy Kitchen!

When asked about what I should be cooking for her, Jaden said she loves Chicken Vindaloo and would love to share its recipe with her readers. So Chicken Vindaloo it is! It is a dish which, if not most popular, must be one of the most popular Indian dishes in the world. Vindaloo is a popular curry that hails from a tiny little state of Goa in India. Portuguese had their colony in Goa for decades and so the state has a great influence from Portuguese culture. It is believed that the name Vindaloo was also derived from Portuguese dish where “vinho” means wine and “alhos” is garlic. Usually the recipe asks for pork and wine along with garlic. In course of time Vindaloo evolved and cooks started making it with chicken or lamb and wine was substituted with vinegar.

Garlic

I am sure you will always notice that the Chicken Vindaloos served in restaurants have potatoes in them. Aloo in hindi means potatoes and since Vind- aloo has aloo in it, I assumed that potatoes are a must in the dish. But after doing a little bit of a research I found that potatoes are not really an essential ingredient. A traditional Vindaloo just asks for meat, garlic, wine or vinegar and lots of chilies in it. So the potatoes you see in the Vindaloo they serve at your favorite Indian restaurant are probably because they either want to make the gravy thicker or increase the volume but definitely not because the recipe asks for it!

Chilli in a jar

Most important part of a Vindaloo masala (spice mix) is the chilies in it. The dish is mostly fiery hot because Vindaloo masala is a chili based preparation and that is where it gets all its flavors. In my recipe I used the dry whole red chilies found at Indian markets. You can make it milder to your taste and use Kasmiri Mirch (a mild form of red chili). This will help make the curry red and pretty but still not very hot.

Now to check out my recipe for an easy and perfect Chicken Vindaloo please head over to Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen.

Prerna Singh
http://www.indiansimmer.com

35 Comments

  2. Beautiful photos!!! I am wondering if you have a site to sell prints of your photos? I would love a nice-sized one of that garlic (and the little vase of basil previous). Think about it/ let me know??

  8. great styling, P. i always feel so disappointed when i see a vindaloo on a menu and cannot eat it- it is usually pork-based (in the restaurants i have come across). hope you have a lovely summer. x shayma

  12. Congrats!!! That’s great!!I cam imagine how amazing it will feel to get a mail like that!!!
    Vindaloo looks amazing! I am vegetarian but my husband loves chicken. I will make it a point to try this recipe the next time i am making chicken for him 🙂

  22. Sure gonna check out the recipe, i have made them from store bought spices but never from scratch well have made them but not really authentic one, so i am sure looking froward to go there and read the recipe.

  23. I love your photos … the props are making me ‘green’ … the dish makes me want to grab off the screen… beautiful… ok now I am hopping over to Jaden’s for the recipe 😀

  26. I love vindaloos, and lamb is my favorite:) I am so excited for you, but on the other hand, Jaden and her readers will benefit tremendously from your beautiful post and photos.

  27. This is a spicy, aromatic & rich masala!!!! I shall try this out with eggs & aloo…Thank u for the recipe Prerna..Had been looking out for a nice vindaloo curry recipe..The ones I came across were oridanary..But this one is a keeper!!! And missed ur posts…Glad u r back!!!! And do post a recipe for xacuti anytime if possible 😉
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

  30. fabulous, i’ll head over! no surprise that she’d ask you to guest post. you have such a lovely site with photography, recipes and stories to match. well done!

  31. Prerna – awesome photos! Great food, great composition and great props – everything came together perfectly! Chicken Vindaloo is most popular in GOA, isn’t it? I couldn’t find the chicken version but had the lamb version… honestly, I can’t quite remember the taste… maybe I should try to create it with your recipe 🙂

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