Chicken Vindaloo - Goan Chicken Curry

During the weekend, I went to shop for Meat and Fish and got a Rohu which weighed about 1.25 Kilos, half of which went in making Methi Fish which tasted out of this World, half is still in the Freezer and I am still contemplating something nice with it; I also got 1.25 Kilos of Chicken (I know the similar weight sounds weird but it was not intentional :P 1.25 Kg of Chicken normally gives you 1 Kg once you skin it and get rid of the livers (no one eats Chicken livers at my house), with half of this Chicken I made Chicken Vindaloo – the Goan classic yesterday! Here, take a look:

We ate this for Lunch today and will eat it for Dinner too, I think that means it definitely scored well in our Kitchen :P So here is the recipe for you

Here is what you will need to make Goan Chicken Vindaloo:

Chicken – 500 gms, cut into medium pieces, cleaned

Kashmiri Red Chili Whole – 5 / to taste

Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp

Whole Black Peppercorns – ½ tsp

Cinnamon – ½ “ stick

Cloves – 3

Onion – 1 medium – sliced

Ginger – 1” stick – roughly chopped

Garlic – 6 cloves – roughly chopped

Tomato – 1 medium – roughly chopped

Cooking Oil

Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Vinegar – 2 tsp

How to make Goan Chicken Vindaloo:

Clean the Chicken, pat them dry, marinate with some Salt and keep

Soak all Kashmiri whole Red Chilies, Whole Black Peppercorns, Cinnamon and Cloves in a little luke warm water and keep

Heat Oil in a Pan; add the sliced Onions, roughly chopped Onion, Garlic and Ginger and sauté for about 3-4 minutes

Add the roughly chopped Tomatoes in a sauté for another 2-3 minutes

Switch off the Stove and give it 5 minutes to cool down

In a Blender, put everything from the Pan, the spices that we had soaked in luke warm water earlier, the vinegar and the Turmeric Powder & grind into a smooth paste

Pour this paste back into the pan, add about a cup of luke warm water and bring it to boil

Pour the marinated Chicken pieces in, slow cook ‘covered’ on medium flame till the Chicken pieces become tender

Uncover when the Chicken is done and cook till you have the gravy as per desired consistency

Garnish with Whole Dry Red Chiles and Whole Black Peppercorns

Serve with steamed White Rice

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Methi Rui - Fish (Rohu) in Fenugreek Sauce

My dear friend ‘S’, sitting in the US of A sends me this super awesome recipe.  Sometime last week I got her email with a picture of Methi Rui & liked it instantaneously, I asked her for the recipe and my email was returned in no time. She mentioned that she made this the same way she makes Methi Chicken & gave me details of the recipe too. Being the foodie that I am, as soon as the weekend knocked, I went and got some Rui (Rohu) from the Market.  I finally made it for Sunday dinner and both ‘A’ & I totally loved it. So all thanks to ‘S’ for this extremely innovative dish, innovative because even I make Methi Chicken all the time but have never thought of changing the main ingredient to Fish and yielding such brilliant result.

Methi aka Fenugreek is used variedly in Indian cuisine. Be it the herb form (dried, Kasuri Methi or fresh leaves), be it as spice seeds or even as a vegetable (like in Methi Parantha’s). I used both the herb and the seed form in this dish. Fenugreek leaves are enriched with minerals like Potassium, Calcium and Iron.  The leaves are rich in Vitamin C and K as well, hence of great medicinal value

Here is what you will need to make Methi Rui / Fish (Rohu) in Fenugreek Sauce :

Rohu or any other Fresh water Fish – 500 gms (I had 7 small pieces)

Methi/Fenugreek Seeds – 1 tsp

Onion – 1 – medium – made into paste

Ginger – 1” – made into paste (not a part of the original recipe)

Garlic – 5 medium cloves – made into paste

Green Chili – 3/ to taste – made into paste

Curd – 2 tbsp (‘S’ advised to use Hung curd, I did not have any hence used regular store bought Curd)

Turmeric Powder - 1+1 tsp

Red Chili Powder – 1 tsp (not a part of the original recipe)

Kasuri Methi (dried Fenugreek leaves) – 2 tsp

Salt – to taste

Mustard Oil / Cooking Oil – 2.5 tbsp

Ghee / Clarified Butter – 1 tsp

Here is how you make Methi Rui / Fish (Rohu) in Fenugreek Sauce:

I made a paste of Onion, Ginger, Garlic and Green Chili together and kept it aside to use once I am done with frying the Fish.

Clean the Fish pieces, smear with Salt and Turmeric; heat Mustard / Cooking Oil in a Pan till smoking, throw a pinch of Salt in (this will make sure the hot Oil is not all over you when you slide the Fish pieces in), slide the Fish pieces in and fry them till golden on both sides. Once done, drain on Paper Towels if you are finicky like me :P

To the same Oil, add 1 tsp of Methi seeds and let them sizzle, scoop out the seeds and throw; use the Methi scented Oil

To the same Oil, add the Onion-Ginger-Garlic and Green Chili Paste and sauté till the raw smell is gone

In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp of Curd, 1 tsp Turmeric, 1 tsp Red Chili Powder and Salt to taste and whisk together, add to the sautéed Onion-Ginger-Garlic and Green Chili Paste

Add some Luke Warm water to this and bring it to boil

Once boiling, bring the heat down to simmer and drop the already fried Fish pieces in, cover and cook till you have the right consistency in the gravy

Take 2 tsp of dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasuri Methi), rub between the palms of your hands to get a nice powdery herb and mix to the dish

Drizzle the molten Clarified Butter/Ghee on top, give it a good mix we & are done

P.S : I served this with Plain White Rice hence I had kept some gravy, ‘S’ mentioned she served it with a Veg Pulav; in case you are serving with Pulav then this dish can be as dry as you want

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