This dish, ironically named, was birthed from a kitchen accident. My lovely culinary friends Tara and Shanna set out to make a Chicken Korma recipe from Jamie Oliver's cookbook Jamie's Food Revolution. It's a mild creamy curry making use of lots of coconut milk and sometimes almonds or cashews; Only to find they didn't have some of the ingredients. In the spirit of getting dinner on the table, they switched gears and decided to make his Vindaloo recipe instead, which is an incredibly spicy curry, peaking the scale in terms of piquancy with a tomato base and lots of vinegar. Two TOTALLY different curries.Shanna forgot the plan. She still had Korma on the brain and began preparing it. Half way into the recipe she asked Tara "Where are the rest of the ingredients for this curry?" Tara figured out the mishap and she screamed "Shanna! We're not making KORMA we're making VINDALOO!" but there was no turning back. The ingredients were in the pot and their family was hungry. In went the Vindaloo ingredients to the half-made Korma curry with fingers crossed.
With two cooks, two recipes and one pot of curry this could have been a culinary disaster. But as it turns out it's a complete MASTERPIECE. I have eaten this curry three times in the last month and I am still craving another pot of it. It's got bite from the spice of the vindaloo paste, and tang from the balsamic vinegar but this beautiful sweetness you don't usually get from curries. The creaminess of the coconut milk is just wonderful.
This is most definitely one happy accident.
Recipe adapted by Tara Hopkins and Shanna Rodominski from Jamie Oliver
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Serves 4
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp butter
2 medium onions, sliced in half moons4 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
a small bunch of cilantro
1 3/4 pounds of chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup of Patak's Vindaloo Paste
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, or 4 ripe tomatoes
1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp honey
1 13 oz can coconut milk
1 18 oz can chickpeas
1 cup natural yogurt
salt and pepper
Peel and finely slice the onions, and mince the garlic and ginger. Pick the cilantro leaves off the stalks and reserve for later. Finely chop the stalks. If using fresh tomatoes, cut them into quarters.
In a large pot over medium high heat add your oil and butter. To this add the onion, garlic, ginger and cilantro stalks and cook for 10 minutes. Add the chicken, curry paste, chickpeas and coconut milk. Stir well to coat everything with the paste and season with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and honey. If you use fresh tomatoes instead of canned, you will have to add some water at this point. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir curry regularly to make sure it doesn't stick to the pan. When the meat is tender taste the curry and season accordingly with salt and pepper.
Serve on basmati rice with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkle of cilantro leaves. Or eat it straight up. Either way it's delicious.
Slow Cooker Directions: Saute onion, garlic, cilantro stalks, chicken and curry paste over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add to a slow cooker, along with tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, honey, coconut milk and chickpeas. Cook on low 4-6 hours or on high 6-8 hours. Season with salt and pepper and serve with yogurt and cilantro leaves.
Click here for printable version of Vindaloo Korma
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THE RESULTS?
This showed up on my traditional Christmas Eve Indian Feast this year, which is quite a prestigious spot. My family and I are all smitten with this recipe. It does have quite a bit of spice made as is, but adding the yogurt on top will add tang and cut the heat a bit. You can also reduce the amount of curry paste from 1/2 cup to a 1/3 cup. I like it just as is, no yogurt or anything. I like the bit of burn on my tongue soothed by the sweetness of the honey.