Incredible Job of figuring out the recipe. Thankyou for the effort. Can’t wait to try it.

I wonder if it would be appropriate to also serve pappadums with this dish? Also tablespoons of mango chutney.

And there I was, all ready to make this tonight, and I discover I’ve run out of tamarind paste. Off to the shops tomorrow, then. Hurrah for Rusholme and all the Asian shops that open late in the evening :)

Should probably stock up on spices whilst I’m at it too, actually…

Fritz: poppadums and mango chutney will go just fine as a starter snack with dish! Enjoy!

Chris: indeed! Rusholme sounds just like Ealing Road Wembley - open all hours - and great for stocking up on all the spices you will need for Indian cooking. Good luck! :-)

Not so much open all hours, as just open late - the shops don’t tend to open much before about 10 or 11am, but stay open way in the evening. They’re great for spices, but also for cheap vegetables and buying herbs in useful quantities (a decent sized bunch of coriander for 50p, not the piddly little packs you get from Sainsburys for a quid)

English people in general seem to be allergic to using herbs and spices in quantities that mean you can actually taste them, which is why every English kitchen has a little pot of half-used Garam Massala from about 1985, which every now and again they’ll use half a teaspoon of to sprinkle over a stew to make it “exotic” :)

Hey - funny you should mention the coriander bunches! As me and Ms79 always laugh hysterically when we see those puny bunches in our local Safeway - and at 79p too! We use twice those quantities in each dish!

During the summer season - and still now - all the grocers round my way are doing 3 BIG bunches for 1 pound.

Your comment about the little pot of half-used garam masala really made me laugh - but it’s so true! Cheers!

Good! Good! Good! The sweet cinnamony opening and the hot chilie finish is delightful. Then you hit a pickled onion. According to the last comment on the coriander, we call it cilantro on this side of the Atlantic, I only had a dab. Next time I’ll add more. I tried several stores trying to find tamarind sauce or paste without success. I tried an international supermarket and an Indian specialty store; no luck. I found 100% Tamarind juice so used it. I had a vindaloo mixture from a spice company which I thought would be an okay substitute for most of the spices. Since most of the required spices were in the mix, I used it. I had to guess at the proportions.

Even with the lousy spices, chicken breast meat and the lack of tamarind sauce, the final mixture was a little thin, this had to be the best chicken dish I have ever tasted. Many Thanks.

My next attempt will be with the proper spices, sauce and chicken thighs. Soon.

Henry

Hi Henry: thank you for your feedback! Glad it turned out so nice for you - even though you improvised with what you could get. Regarding thigh vs breast - I always try to go for thigh because it has more flavour - and has less of a “dry” texture when bitten into. It is also a lot cheaper - but admittedly is less easier to trim and cut etc. Let us know how you get on.

Also: there is a famous-brand UK-based spice company (Natco) who sell on-line - and can ship to USA by airmail: Check out:
http://www.natco-online.com

Okay, finally got round to making this tonight having gone on a huge spice-stockup trip to Rusholme and China Town over the last couple of days. I still lacked pickled onions, but a desertspoolful of white wine vinegar gives just the right amount of extra tartness. As usual, an excellent recipe and one to add to the bookmarks list :) One thing, though: You’re not terribly clear about where the roasted spices should be added (and you don’t mention the chilli powder at all!) - I stuck them in with the rest of the spices and it seemed to work okay :)

I found your site at work and couldn’t wait to get home and try this recipe. I couldn’t find the right pickled onions at my local Indian shop (Arizona USA), but they did have the tamarind paste. I figured I’d try Henry’s idea of substituting white wine vinegar for the pickled onions. I also didn’t have basmati, so I had it with cous cous.

It was great! Very savory. The pairing with cous cous worked really well too, because it’s good at absorbing sauce. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes, particularly the Indian KFC.

Thanks for taking the time to put this stuff up on the web.

Hi Todd, a pleasure - and thank you for your comment. And thanks also for the tip re cous-cous - it has never occured to me to try this as the accompaniment. Cheers!

Chris: apologies for not getting back to you regarding the roasted spices - you did right by adding them with the rest - including the chillie powder - although that can go in anytime towards the end as well. What you could also try (which is what I do a lot) is not use chillie powder at all - but to use freshly cut/chopped green chilies instead. They impart more of the chillie “falvour” as opposed to the powder - which is more about heat than taste. And if you do use fresh chillie - then add this in towards the end of the cooking - as it loses heat the more it is cooked.

All of these recipes taste horrible!
and i love food so yea!
horrible horrible horrible horrible!

john jacob jinglehimershmet

HIYAAA !! its the bomb..the hizzzle and it rocks ma socks
the person who did this recipe is the coolerroonist person eva

duuude. this recipe is the heezy fo sheezy. yes fritz ; it would be appropriate to serve pappadums and mango chutney with this dish. serve it at your next partay and invite me, anita laugh, and john jacob jinglehimershmet!!

Followed the recipe to the letter and this is the best chicken vindaloo I have ever eaten and that includes the one made for me by my own personal Indian chef in Mombasa. This was amazing. Have you got any recipes for Chicken Madras and Chicken Jalfrezi? Thanks again, Bruce.

Is there a veggie alternative to this?
Sounds yummy.