Category Archives: Curries

Chicken Vindaloo ( Replace chicken with tofu for vegetarian version)


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As much as I love cooking, I am very much intimidated by recipes that call for 25 ingredients and 30 steps 🙂 I have been cooking long enough to understand that good food can also be simple food. But there are exceptions to every rule. Chicken Vindaloo is one such recipe, involves more steps than normal, but completely worth all the efforts. A staple in Indian restaurants’ lunch buffet, this curry with chicken and potatoes is quite spicy. Its not the kind of heat that makes you reach for water after the first bite, but with all the different layers of spices, you will definietly start to sweat before your are done eating 🙂  I don’t mind spending an hour in the kitchen for this, because this could be the only thing I cook for the whole day. Make chicken vindaloo and steam some rice… lunch and dinner are taken care of (with no complaints :))  (The flavor profile closely matches with  chicken chettinad).

  • Step 1 (Making the spice blend)

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  1. black mustard seeds –  2 tsp
  2. cumin – 2 tsp
  3. black pepper – 1.5 tsp
  4. cardamom seeds – 2 cardamom (remove the pod)
  5. fenugreek – 1 tsp
  6. cinnamon –  three sticks (about an inch each)

(These quantiies are for 1.5 lbs of chicken)

  • Heat 1/2 tsp of oil in a pan and fry the spices. Add the mustard seeds first and the fenugreek at the very end. Image
  • Allow them to cool down for a bit and pulse them in a spice blender.

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  • To this add :
  1. 1 tsp of turmeric powder
  2. 2 tsp of red chilli powder
  3. 1 tsp salt
  4. 3 tsp of brown sugar

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  • Mix everything with 2 tbsp of vingear. Image

This concludes the making of the vindaloo spice blend.

  • Step 2 (Making the onion paste)

Chop 2 medium size onions. Image

  • In a big pot add 2 tbsp of oil and saute the onions. Image
  • The onions have to caramelize and turn brown. This will take approximately 8 – 10 mins in medium heat. Image
  • Cool them down and grind to a thick paste. The paste has to be brown in color, if not , the onions have not caramelized enough and that will definitely affect the taste of the gravy. Image
  • Step 3 (Marinating the chicken)

Clean and cut the chicken into cubes (preferably boneless). Marinate the chicken with the spice blend (step 1) and the onion paste(step 2) and set aside for at least 30 minutes.  Image

  • Step 4 (Making the Vindaloo Gravy)

The rest is quite easy. To make the gravy you will need :

  1. Medium tomatoes – 2
  2. Cilantro – a generous bunch
  3. Curry leaves – few
  4. Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbspImage
  • You will also need 1 large or two medium potatoes. Peel and cut into big cubes and leave them in water until needed.Image
  • In a big pot, add 2 tbsp of oil, and fry the ginger garlic paste.Image
  • Add the tomatoes, cilantro and curry leaves. Sprinkle salt to sweat the tomatoes.Image
  • When the tomatoes soften, add the marinated chicken.Image
  • Add the potatoes.Image
  • Cover and cook. There is no need to add water.Image
  • Usually the restaurant vindaloos are more like thin curries.  But I prefer a thick gravy. Remove from heat when the chicken is completely cooked and your preferred consistency is reached.Image
  • For thicker gravy, cook until oil separates.Image

This goes extremely well with rice or naan. It is a flavor packed dish, so just this and rice makes a sumptuous meal.

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Related articles

Paneer Butter Masala


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I do not know the history on why this is called Butter Masala. I just add 1 tbsp of butter in the recipe, I just interpret it as the gravy is as smooth as butter. Long shot, uh ? What so ever, this dish appeals to the kids with its subtle flavors, smooth texture and of course, no apparently visible vegetables 🙂

  • You need the ingredients below for the gravy.

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  • Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok and fry the whole spices.

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  • Saute the onions until they turn slighty brown. Also fry 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste.

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  • Add the tomatoes. Sprinkle salt to sweat the tomatoes.

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  • Once the tomatoes soften add the tomato paste. You can just use the paste, or just use tomatoes or a mix of both.

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  • Mix well and add little water if needed. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and a pinch of garam masala. Also add salt as needed.

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  • What adds to the flavor of this dish is “Kasoori Methi”, dried fenugreek leaves. You can get this in an Indian grocery store.

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  • Crush 1 tsp of kasoori methi in the palm of your hands and add to the onion tomato mix.

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  • Allow the mix to cool down and make a puree with cashew nuts. Cashews help with the smoothness, you can also us toasted poppy seeds instead of cashews. While grinding , grind the cashesws first and then grind the tomato-onion mix to puree.

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  • While making the puree , if you need to add water , add heavy cream or milk instead.

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  • Return the puree to the wok. Add a tbsp of butter and a tbsp of oil. you can add more butter as you desire, but 1 spoon is more than enough.

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  • If the gravy starts to thicken you can dilute by adding milk or cream.

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  • While the gravy is cooking, you can cut paneer and brown them slightly . You can replace  paneer with tofu.

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  • Add the paneer to the gravy.

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  • As of now, the dish is complete. But if you would like to add one more layer of flavor, dry toast a tsp of cumin and a tsp of kasoori methi. If you don’t have kasoori methi, use a tsp of fenugreek seeds.

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  • Grind the toasted cumin and fenugreek leaves to a fine powder.

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  • Sprinkle this pixie dust on the gravy.

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  • Reduce the heat and simmer until oil separates.

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Just as I was about to finish, my son came back from school. As soon as I opened the door he exclaimed “wow , I can smell my favorite paneer dip” and my day was made. 🙂

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Kadai Tofu


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Kadai chicken/ Kadai Paneer is one of the Punjabi Dhaba recipes, which is basically a quick and rustic stir fry. Quick is a tricky word here,  if you have the kadai masala (dry spice blend) and the tomato gravy ready , then it is really quick to stir-fry. If you are making everything from scratch like I did today, it does take a little bit of time. But its worth, not just the taste but the aroma that fills the house. “Kadai” is the Indian wok. I am using Tofu today , the curry base is the same whether it is Kadai Paneer or Kadai chicken.

  • First lets make the kadai masala. Its a blend of the dry spices. Traditionally ‘Kasoori methi’ (dried fenugreek leaves) are used. I do not have it, so I replaced it with fenugreek seeds.Image
  • Heat a wok and dry roast the spices, add the fenugreek at the very end as roasting them too much can give a bitter taste. Grind them to a coarse powder.Image
  • Next step is to make the tomato gravy.  Grind a few garlic cloves with a pinch of salt to a thick paste.

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  • You can use tomato paste. But I prefer using fresh tomatoes. Dice about 3-4 big tomatoes.

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  • Heat up 2tbsp of oil in the wok (you can use butter/ghee or a mix of ghee and oil) and fry the garlic paste. Take your time and cook until the raw smell is completely gone. And then add 1 tbsp of the kadai masala (dry spice blend) to the oil and fry for a few seconds. The rest of the kadai masala will be used at the end.

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  • Now add the tomatoes to the oil.

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  • Add salt and cook until the tomatoes sweat and soften.

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  • Cut some onions and green peppers into chunks.

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  • Add the onions and green peppers to the gravy. I know it is counter intuitive to add raw onions to the gravy, but for this recipe it works really well. It is important to have the crunch in the finished gravy.Image
  • Let the gravy simmer. Meanwhile, we can get the Tofu ready. I am using extra firm Tofu. Cut the Tofu in cubes.

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If you are using paneer, frying the paneer is optional. If you are using Tofu, I strongly recommend slightly browning the tofu before adding to the gravy. This can be done with 1 or 2 tsp of oil.Image

  • By now, the gravy should have reduced. As with all tomato based gravies, as we cook them longer and slower the color becomes rich. I am making this as a side for rice, so I allowed my gravy to reduce a lot, you can make it as loose as you prefer.

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  • Add the tofu to the gravy and mix well.

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  • Finally sprinkle the rest of the kadai masala (dry spice blend) and mix with the tofu and the gravy.

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  • And the Kadai Tofu is ready. Serve with rice or naan.

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Sodhi – Vegetable stew


This is a popular stew in the Nellai region(very south of Tamilnadu, India), infact in some communities the grandeur of a wedding is determined by the presence of this stew in the lunch menu. It comes very close in taste to Thai coconut milk soup….I just like the fresh flavors….very tropical, very refreshing..
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A couple of options here. The best option is to go fresh all the way. Grate one coconut, roughly about 3 cups of coconut gratings.

  • If you are using the frozen grated coconut, use about half the pack.
  • If you use coconut milk cans, you will need about 2 – 8 oz cans.
  • Do not use coconut milk powder or desiccated coconut for this.

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Grind the coconut with 1.5 cups of water and take the milk out. This is the first coconut milk. This should be thick and creamy. (the consistency of heavy cream). If you are using cans, reserve about 1 cup of the milk without adding any water.

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Return the coconut to the blender and grind with 1.5 cups of water, squeeze the milk out. This will be the second milk (with the consistency of 2% milk). If you are using cans, mix 3/4 cups of coconut milk with 3/4 cups of water.

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Repeat the same process. This is the third milk. This time the milk should will be much thinner (the consistency of fat free milk).  If you are using cans, mix 1/2 cup of milk with 1 cup of water.

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Grind green chillies + ginger to a paste. This will be the only source of heat for the stew, so take accordingly.

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Cook 1/4 cup of moong dhal (split green grams)  thoroughly and mash it.  (This is an optional ingredient, the purpose is to thicken the stew. )

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These are the veggies : pearl onions, garlic cloves, cabbage, carrots, green beans and potatoes. All the prep is done…and the rest is quite easy.

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Add 2 tsp of oil to the pan and sauté the onions and garlic.

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Add the veggies and sauté for a couple of minutes.

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Add the “third” coconut milk (the thinnest milk).

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Add a pinch of salt,, it is very easy to oversalt this stew, so add only a pinch at a time. Cover and cook. When the potatoes and carrots are 3/4 ths done, add the chillie ginger paste.

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Stir in the cooked dhal..

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Add the “second” coconut milk and also a pinch of salt. cook until the vegetables are cooked well and the stew will thicken because of the dhal.

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Reduce the heat to “low” and add the “first” coconut milk (the thick and creamy one). after you’ve added the thick coconut milk, do not bring the stew to boil. Just simmer it for five minutes.

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Fry the mustard seeds and curry leaves in a spoon of oil and add it to the stew. Turn off the heat.  After 10 minutes, add the juice of 1/4 lime and mix well and its done.

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This stew goes well with everything : idli, dosa, appam, idiappam, poori, roti, rice or you can just drink it like a soup… simple ingredients, fresh flavors and a great tasting stew.

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Fish Curry ( Chettinad style)


These days its quite easy to make fish curry by simply adding “fish curry masala” or some other instant powders and convince ourselves that “well, its not too different from what my grandma used to make ” 🙂 . It  is different from what grandma made. Here is the recipe for the traditional fish curry, definitely will be worthy of the efforts.

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Fish cleaned and cut and rubbed with turmeric powder and salt. (I have Tilapia here, Mackerel and King fish are better options.)

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shallots (or onions), tomatoes, garlic and curry leaves

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spice blend (Not taking any shortcuts today)
red chillies
coriander seeds
fennel
cumin
black pepper
raw rice (helps to thicken the curry)

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In a spoon of oil (I am using sesame oil – which enhances the flavor of this curry), fry the spices.

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Grind them with some curry leaves to a smooth paste.

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Dilute the masala and add tamarind and jaggery(vellam or brown sugar) to it. Add turmeric powder and salt to the mix and set aside.

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Add sesame oil to the pan and fry some mustard seeds. Sauté the onions, garlic and curry leaves.

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Sauté the tomatoes.

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when the tomatoes soften, add the masala.

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Let the curry boil and reduce.

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When its almost done , place the fish in the curry. reduce the heat, cover and cook without stirring.

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The fish will  cook in 5 mins , cover and set aside for 30 mins before serving.

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Serve with steamed rice. The curry tastes even better the next day ( there are movie songs written about the taste, if you won’t take my word for it 😉 )

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