We’re headed out tonight for Indian food. Oh, I can not wait. The spicy aromas, the soft airy naan. I like Indian food as authentic as I can get it; having not been to India, my definition of “authentic” is fresh foods made insanely spicy and breads made in a tandoori (which I do not have). My favorite thing in the world is when I walk into an Indian restaurant and I am the only white person there, “Ah! I am in the right place.” Love that. Looove it.
Once, I took my father to an Indian restaurant. As a midwesterner, he was reluctant. BUT, he got eased a bit when the curvy, delish belly dancers started making their way through the restaurant. Oh, that was a great night. I’ll tell that story another time.
If you can’t make it out to dinner with us tonight, I totally understand. Instead, I thought I’d toss out one of my favorite dishes, Chicken Vindaloo. This recipe is a take-off of one I found in Cooking Light; but I made it my own by adding a few things to just to give it depth and make it much, much spicier. If you aren’t a fan of spice, tone down the thai peppers, or use a milder pepper like jalapeno (I know, it isn’t a traditional Indian dish with Jalapeno, I know.)
Enjoy!
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup pork mixture and about 3/4 cup rice)
Ingredients
- 2 (3 1/2-ounce) bags boil-in-bag brown rice
- 2 teaspoons peanut oil (or canola oil)
- 1 large sweet onion (Maui or Vidalia make good choices) or white onion is fine too
- 2 chicken breasts, but into 1 inch strips
- 1 1/4 teaspoons garam masala
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 inch of fresh ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 5 thai peppers (be sure to get as close to the stem as possible, that’s where the spice is!)
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Optional
- For extra depth, I also use 2 teaspoons Kaiulani Spices Kona Coffee blend (brown sugar, cumin, garlic, coffee)
- 1/4 cup of red cooking wine
Preparation
1. Prepare rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and to pan; sauté 2 minutes. Combine chicken and next 5 ingredients (through thai pepper); toss well; sauté for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add garlic.
3. Add broth to pan, scraping bottom of pan to loosen browned bits, deglaze with red table wine. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro and vinegar. Serve over rice.
Recipe modified from original printed in Cooking Light November 2008
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Oh great! Now I have to figure out how to drag hubby to Indian food this weekend, before we go to a wine tasting…oh how I love my Indian spice aromas…
Let me know if you were successful in getting your hubs out for Indian food. Indian food=addiction. We waited over an hour and half to be seated…with nary a complaint!
Hi Tara, I love your adventurous take on food!
Now, please don’t think I’m trying to create more work for you but I love your blog & so I’ve passed the Honesty Scrap badge/award to you (which was granted to me last week)
Please “claim” the badge/award from my site and read the rules.
Since I am technologically handicapped, you’ll have to copy the image of the badge from my blog – http://www.weavethousandflavors.com and go from there!
Sincerely,
Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
OK Tara, I’m right behind Devaki who I also love and adore to pieces. I really like spicy food so I’m going to give this recipe a go and let you know how I fare, once my taste buds return to normal from this awful flu.
Many thanks,
PT
add a couple of extra thai peppers in there…makes you feel ALIVE…oh, and clears the sinuses..let me know what you think of the Vindaloo…whoo-hoo
Thanks for your recipes. Where can I buy Indian spices for this particular meal? any comments? I live in Twin cities!
Thanks
@Khora – my “go-to” for those kinds of questions is most definitely weavethousandflavors.com!! Check out her blog!