Chicken Vindaloo

Ingredients: (for 7 people)

• Whole spices: 7 star anise, 5 large bay leaves, 17 cloves, 7 tsp. of cumin, 3 tsp of black peppercorns, 6 tsp of corriander seeds, 7 green cardamom pods, 6-30 dried arbol chilies.

• Chicken rub spices: 9 tsp. of turmeric, 2 tsp of cayenne powder (or any chili powder), 2 tsp of garam masala.

• Aromatics: Ginger-garlic paste (20 cloves of garlic worth, with ginger to match - I make it with a mortar and pestle, but a food processor, coffee grinder, and pre-made paste are also options - you can also just dice it in a pinch), 3 medium red onions, chopped

• Chicken: use thighs or other dark meat cut into pieces ~1" on a side. Can substitute any meat that can be braised for 30-40 minutes (i.e., won't dry out).

• Misc ingredients:

  • ghee or oil (lots)

  • 2 medum cans of diced tomatoes

  • potatoes cut same size as the chicken

Procedure:

First thing you should do is rub the chicken with the... rub, I guess, and then set it in the fridge until we need it.

Fry the whole spices in ghee over medium heat, adding in reverse order of how fast they burn (so star anise first, cumin seeds last). When fragrant, add ginger-garlic paste and onions.

When onions soften slightly and the g-g paste becomes fragrant (or you're afraid it's gonna burn), deglaze with diced tomato cans, and stir and let simmer for a few minutes (just to let the flavors combine). This will become the gravy.

Pour the gravy out of the pan and set it aside to cool.

While it's cooling and the pan's empty, re-ghee/re-oil the pan (without cleaning it!) and brown the chicken over high heat (you can brown the potatoes too if there's room in the pan, but I never find that there is), but don't worry about cooking it through yet.

While that's browning, the gravy has probably cooled enough to blend it, so do that until the spices are all ground up.

At this point I add salt and vinegar to taste. For something this large, "to taste" probably comes out to around a tablespoon of salt and half a cup of vinegar.

Once the chicken's browned, add the potatoes (if you haven't yet), pour the gravy over everything, and cover and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked.

During that time, you can put on a pot of rice (basmati if you want it to feel more Indian, but any white rice will be delicious) and prep some cilantro for garnish. If the thighs were skin-on, I also like to crisp the skins in a non-stick pan over high heat and garnish with that as well.

~ Julian S.