Naga chicken tikka. Homemade vindaloo paste. And hotel gravy. Completely over the top. This one has it all going on. A little spicy. A little sour. Real depth of flavour. I know I’m hyping it up. But I’m not worried. This is serious business. Master class time.
Homemade vindaloo paste
I used to wonder why my vindaloos weren’t awesome. Tried all sorts of things. Just could not get it. Truth be told – it made me a bit crazy. Took me talking my way into one of the better Indian restaurant kitchens in town to figure it out. The chef said four words. Four simple words. Four magic words. We use a paste. There it was. A little insert pan on the line. A light came on in my head. The clouds parted. The sun shone down. Angels sang. Problem solved. It isn’t hard to make. You can make batches of vindaloo paste and freeze it. Store it right next to your hotel gravy. So you’re ready to go any time. The one tricky thing to find might be kashmiri chilies. But they are important. Don’t just randomly substitute another dried red chili. Kashmiri chilies are big on flavour. Without the crazy heat. So you can use lots of them without blowing a hole in the back of your head. Your Indian grocer will have them. Or get them online. Try hard. Did I mention it’s important? There’s a lesson here as well. Restaurants respond to enthusiasm. If you are genuinely interested in something – just ask. It works.
Naga chicken tikka
I have a full on tandoori marinade recipe. It’s based on a lesson I got in a tikka restaurant in Bangalore. See? Enthusiasm works everywhere. This is a simpler version. But one that works well for spicy curries. Naga pickle adds some fire. And some magic. It’s fast. Easy. You can cook it in the oven. I still like it better over charcoal. No surprise. I like everything over charcoal. But it’s not critical. The naga adds enough flavour. Even for me. The idea of making this dish with the naga tikka came from a long-time reader and very talented cook. He made it part of his curries. A lot of his curries. I’m just spreading the word. Andy and Hellen – thank you.
There’s a party appetizer here too
I’ve put in a little extra chicken in this recipe. Because I know you’ll want to snack. I do it. Can’t help myself. So I built buffer right into this recipe. Why fight it? Enjoy. When you do try a piece or two think about how it could be an appetizer. With beer. Or drinks. Just take that chicken tikka. Drizzle the pan juices overtop. Put out some toothpicks or little skewers. And let people graze. It’s a tasty little spice bomb. If your guests need something to cool things down again think about a dip to go with it. Something creamy. Yoghurt based. I have some ideas. A little glebekitchen twist. Will do a post on this before long.
Hotel gravy – for the win
There are two popular approaches to cooking Indian at home. Traditional is the one you know. Pretty much every recipe on the internet is traditional. Restaurant style is the other. It’s a little more esoteric. But it’s how they make curries in a restaurant environment. There are lots of those recipes here. Look for anything labelled restaurant on glebekitchen. That’s how Indian restaurants cook. Not sort of. Not almost. For real. If you want what they are making in restaurants where you live this is how they do it. And then there’s hotel style. That’s how they do it at the really posh restaurants. Bigger. Bolder. Deeper flavours. If you cook traditional style there are things that will seem familiar. If you cook restaurant style you’ll feel at home too. This is somewhere in between. It’s more work than regular restaurant style. Up front anyway. Which is why you don’t see it everywhere. More work means more labour. More labour means higher costs. Restaurants work to price point. That’s business. But I don’t. And probably you don’t either. So go for it. I’m pretty sure you won’t regret it. Hotel style chicken vindaloo is probably the most demanding curry on the blog to date. Not complicated. But it will take real effort. Remember. Good things come to those that do. Really good things.
Chicken tikka vindaloo
If you want to make a great vindaloo use a homemade vindaloo paste. It makes a big difference. Do it restaurant style or hotel style or homestyle. Doesn’t really matter. That paste is going to make a big difference. That is secret number one. If you want to go the distance though. If you want to make the a truly memorable vindaloo. One that people talk about. For months. Try this one. Hotel style is secret number two.Naga chicken tikka? That’s just icing on the cake.
