Vendaloo (Vindaloo)
I made some killing vindaloo over the weekend. I was going to make it on Saturday, but failed to actually read the recipe through before noon, and realized I needed to marinate my meat for anywhere between 8 and 48 hours. So I started the marinade on Saturday night and made the dish Sunday when I got home from my gig. It turned out fantastic. I modified the recipe a little bit, which I try not to do when I'm cooking something for the first time, but I think I've gained enough experience in the kitchen to have the confidence to change things on the fly. For starters, the recipe traditionally calls for pork (more on that in a minute) and I used chicken. I also cut back on the red pepper (otherwise known as Indian death powder) and substituted a whole ghost chili (hottest damn pepper on the planet). The heat was perfect, in my opinion. It was hot enough that you had to eat it slowly and with a glass of milk at hand, but not so hot that it was inedible. It called for a lot of ingredients that I'd never used before, and I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to turn out, because while I was cooking it it smelled pretty heinous. I was surprised that I wasn't able to find very many of my ingredients at Penzy's (my kick-ass, just around the corner spice shop, which always has whatever I need and fresh), so I had to go to my local Indian grocer instead. The weirdest of these ingredients was tamarind pulp, which is a type of Indian date. I had to soak it in boiling water and then strain it and mash all the liquid out of it, and then I used the tamarind infused water in the dish. Strange ingredient. The other really strange ingredient that I'd never used before was mustard oil, which I had to heat to its smoking point and then cool before using. I still haven't quite figured that one out, but I'm guessing it has something to do with getting rid of some its harsh, bitter flavor. And when I cooked my onion in the mustard oil, some strange chemical reaction took place and the oil began to foam and froth. I have no idea what could cause an oil to do this. Alton Brown could probably explain it. Anyway, the vindaloo turned out fantastic, although I have a bit of indigestion this morning... but totally worth it.
While I was cooking (or while I wasn't cooking rather- waiting for water to boil, etc.) I did a little research on this dish. It turns out that Vindaloo is not a traditionally Indian dish. In fact, its origins can be traced back to the Portuguese dish "Carne de Vinha d' Alhos" which translates to meat with wine and garlic. In the 1500s, the Portuguese invaded and took over the Goa state of India, and ruled until the 1980s, and it goes without saying that they had a huge influence on the culture there. Carne de Vinha d' Alhos is traditionally made with pork, which is not widely consumed in India. Indians don't so much have a religious aversion to pork as they do a social aversion. For starters, the type of high-nutrient grain necessary to sustain a population of pigs does not grow in India. And as Julie Sahni puts it, Indians approach an animal that will eat anything from anywhere with "suspicion". So eventually, Carne de Vinha d' Alhos was given the Goan treatment and morphed into the dish Vindaloo. Traditionally, it's served with either chicken or lamb. And although not traditional, some also put potato in the dish as kind of a joke ("aloo" means potato in Hindi, but it actually translates to garlic in Portuguese). Vindaloo is not widely eaten outside of the Goan state, and is not a very popular dish in India at all. It gained popularity in Indian restaurants in the UK, the Middle East, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the US.
Generally speaking, when you go to an Indian restaurant Vindaloo will be the spiciest thing on the menu. Some restaurants serve a hotter variation of Vindaloo called Tindaloo, and Phall which is even hotter still. To give you an example of the dangerous nature of Phall, in the Brick Lane Curry House in NYC, when the chef prepares Phall curry he has to wear a gas mask. It's that bad. But honestly, I'm happy with Vindaloo. While I'm all about spicy food, anything hotter than Vindaloo is kind of ridiculous and becomes so hot that you can't enjoy the flavor. I may be tempted to tackle Phall one day, but Vindaloo is really all I need.
-CJ
While I was cooking (or while I wasn't cooking rather- waiting for water to boil, etc.) I did a little research on this dish. It turns out that Vindaloo is not a traditionally Indian dish. In fact, its origins can be traced back to the Portuguese dish "Carne de Vinha d' Alhos" which translates to meat with wine and garlic. In the 1500s, the Portuguese invaded and took over the Goa state of India, and ruled until the 1980s, and it goes without saying that they had a huge influence on the culture there. Carne de Vinha d' Alhos is traditionally made with pork, which is not widely consumed in India. Indians don't so much have a religious aversion to pork as they do a social aversion. For starters, the type of high-nutrient grain necessary to sustain a population of pigs does not grow in India. And as Julie Sahni puts it, Indians approach an animal that will eat anything from anywhere with "suspicion". So eventually, Carne de Vinha d' Alhos was given the Goan treatment and morphed into the dish Vindaloo. Traditionally, it's served with either chicken or lamb. And although not traditional, some also put potato in the dish as kind of a joke ("aloo" means potato in Hindi, but it actually translates to garlic in Portuguese). Vindaloo is not widely eaten outside of the Goan state, and is not a very popular dish in India at all. It gained popularity in Indian restaurants in the UK, the Middle East, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the US.
Generally speaking, when you go to an Indian restaurant Vindaloo will be the spiciest thing on the menu. Some restaurants serve a hotter variation of Vindaloo called Tindaloo, and Phall which is even hotter still. To give you an example of the dangerous nature of Phall, in the Brick Lane Curry House in NYC, when the chef prepares Phall curry he has to wear a gas mask. It's that bad. But honestly, I'm happy with Vindaloo. While I'm all about spicy food, anything hotter than Vindaloo is kind of ridiculous and becomes so hot that you can't enjoy the flavor. I may be tempted to tackle Phall one day, but Vindaloo is really all I need.
-CJ