Cooking with Capsaicin: British Army Vindaloo
Posted on the 7th of February 2010 at 12:25 by Bodil
Here’s a recipe I’ve been meaning to share for years and years, but food blogging sort of died down when I got my Android phone, which, among other great hardware failings, has an absolutely crap camera–so bad it might actually make iPhone owners smirk. And food blogging without a decent photo of the dish just feels wrong. Today, therefore, having a batch of vindaloo left over from yesterday along with an unaccustomed feeling of industriousness, I dug out my old Nokia E90, which, while probably still blasphemy to any serious photographer, still has the best damned camera I’ve ever owned. Food photography settled; food blogging can now resume.
This dish started out with a recipe for chicken vindaloo I found online in the dark prehistory of the internets–the site, while indisputably precious even today with its sentiment of capsaicin assisted suicide, is so old I might well have found my way to it through Altavista. I’ve had more than ten years to refine the recipe (to make it properly vegetarian, especially), and here’s the result: my all time favourite dish, bar none.
As always, the usual caveat applies: consult the Scoville scale and maintain proper respect for habañeros at all times. Use less potent chilies if you’re not used to them; in fact, the curry paste might very well contain more than enough capsaicin for the inexperienced palate: dispense with the chilies altogether if so.
British Army Vindaloo
250-500 g tofu
1 large onion, chopped
1 can chick peas
1 can chopped tomatoes
10-15 cherry tomatoes
2-4 habañeros
1 bulb garlic
1 fair sized lump of ginger (about 2x the amount of garlic)
1 fair sized bunch of fresh coriander
1/2 glass Patak’s vindaloo paste or similar (Extra Hot is even better, depending on mood)
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp mango chutney
1-2 dl vinegar (approx, to taste)
1 tbsp whole cumin seeds
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp vegetable ghee or cooking oil
Dice the tofu into 1-2cm³ pieces and deep fry at 170ºC for 1 minute or fry in a frying pan for 1-2 minutes on each side. The surface of the tofu should turn golden, but not brown. Set aside.
Blend the habañeros, garlic and ginger using a hand mixer or blender. Add one cherry tomato if you like to make it easier to blend. Set aside.
Heat the frying pan to medium heat and melt the ghee. When the pan is hot enough, sprinkle the cumin seeds into the ghee. They should sizzle, but not burn. After about 30 seconds, add the chopped onion and sauté until it softens slightly.
Add the chili/garlic/ginger paste, stir well while allowing it to fry for about a minute. Add the vindaloo paste and tomato purée. Stir it all together while frying for another minute or so.
Add the can of chopped tomatoes, liquid and all. Stir well until everything blends and it starts to look curry coloured. Stir in the mango chutney, black pepper and vinegar. The vinegar is what makes the vindaloo: blend and taste until you find the amount that suits you best.
Add the tofu and chick peas. Chop the coriander well and stir it in. Leave to boil gently for 10 to 45 minutes–more is better because the tofu will absorb more flavour, but not necessary if you’re feeling impatient. I’ll usually start boiling the rice at the same time I start preparing the curry, and leave it boiling until the rice is done, maybe 15-20 minutes, with fairly good results.
When you feel like it’s boiled long enough, stir in the garam masala and add the cherry tomatoes. Leave to cook for another 3-5 minutes before serving, allowing the tomatoes to heat through.
Serve with rice, maybe a splash of chutney on the side. Pappadums are near essential accessories, and a good raita is advised if you’re serving guests who aren’t used to the habañeros.
Many variations are available: as well as tofu and chick peas, the dish works splendidly with mushrooms, spring onions, potatoes, lentils and even aubergines. If you’re willing to pollute your body with animal flesh, chicken obviously works magnificently. Feel free to experiment: the only spectacular failure I’ve had with this recipe is when something (presumably the Devil) possessed me to try it with fried salmon.
