Cold is all relative. When I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts I thought a temperature of 35 degrees F in mid February was warm. Now that I live in southern California, 60 degrees F is downright freezing. Wherever you live winter does bring out the desire for warming foods and nothing is more warming than foods with piquant chiles. One of my favorites are dishes cooked vindaloo. It’s the kind of dish I order in Indian restaurants but at home you can get inventive and there is nothing intrinsically difficult about its preparation. Here’s a recipe for turkey vindaloo which is quite perfect I think.
Turkey Vindaloo
In this famous preparation from Goa, which was a Portuguese colony in western India for about 450 years, I use turkey instead of the typical pork or chicken. The word vindaloo derives from the Portuguese words vinho for wine and alhos for garlic. Goa’s Hindu community would tend to make vindaloo with seafood while pork is popular with Goa’s Christian community. The Christian community uses vinegar in its cooking while the Hindus use tamarind. Some Goan cooks use feni, a distilled drink made from coconut sap, in the vinegar sauce. In Goa and all of India, the dried red chiles used are called Kashmiri chiles, because that is where most of them come from. Serve with Rice Pilaf and warmed naan or other flatbread.
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3 fresh green chiles
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
4 large garlic cloves
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large onions, cut in half, then thinly sliced
3 pounds turkey parts such as thigh, breast, wings, cut up into smaller serving pieces
3 boiling potatoes (1 1/4 pounds), such as Yukon gold, white, or red potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1. In a small bowl, mix the coriander, turmeric, cumin, and cloves together. In a blender, blend together the spice mixture, chiles, ginger, garlic, and vinegar until smooth.
2. In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat, then add the onions and cook, stirring, until golden, about 20 minutes. Add the turkey, potatoes, water, cinnamon stick, salt, and the vinegar mixture from the blender, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the turkey and potatoes are tender, about 1 hour. Add the peas 5 minutes before the turkey is done. Serve hot.
Makes 4 servings
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