Tremendously interesting program on BBC Radio 4 about cooking Curries.
The second hottest one in the repertoire is a Vindaloo. But what is the secret sauce beyond onions, chillies and garlic?
Turns out is Vinegar. Hence Vin. An ingredient unknown to the Sub-continent until the Portuguese turned up. An excellent marriage of cultures, IMO. 😀
The second hottest one in the repertoire is a Vindaloo. But what is the secret sauce beyond onions, chillies and garlic?
Turns out is Vinegar. Hence Vin. An ingredient unknown to the Sub-continent until the Portuguese turned up. An excellent marriage of cultures, IMO. 😀
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I found lamb vindaloo in Mumbai to be virtually inedible for me at least (way to hot
). Vinegar (rice, palm, coconut, and more) was well known in Asia long before the West arrived, but the eating of pork and drinking of wine must have bothered the locals.
). Vinegar (rice, palm, coconut, and more) was well known in Asia long before the West arrived, but the eating of pork and drinking of wine must have bothered the locals.
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I make fruit fly traps with a mason jar and a funnel. Put vinegar and some fruit juice (apple) in the jar, drop the funnel in and once they get in they have trouble getting out.
I have been to Bombay (aka Mumbai) myself.
Hands up who knows what a Bombay Duck is? Bombay duck - Wikipedia
No, not a bird! It's a fish! Extremely crunch texture. Slightly salty. Quite yummy in fact. The perfect Hors d'oeuvre.
A propos rien, here is another excellent Curry. Plums with Lamb, served up by London's finest Curry Restaurant. Veeraswarmys in Regent Street.
Hands up who knows what a Bombay Duck is? Bombay duck - Wikipedia
No, not a bird! It's a fish! Extremely crunch texture. Slightly salty. Quite yummy in fact. The perfect Hors d'oeuvre.
A propos rien, here is another excellent Curry. Plums with Lamb, served up by London's finest Curry Restaurant. Veeraswarmys in Regent Street.
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Apparently curry was queen Victoria's favourite dish - she even employed an Indian chef to prepare them for her.
I can't handle a vindaloo either. Way too hot - eating one is an exercise in self-immolation IMV.
I can't handle a vindaloo either. Way too hot - eating one is an exercise in self-immolation IMV.
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Tolerance can be built up by keep eating more of it. I've tried chicken vindaloo at an Indian food joint in NYC with good reviews. It was very spicy but with good flavor. 
Not for me. Funny, where I originally come from, guys that could handle a vindaloo or could drink 10 ales and still stand up straight considered themselves 'men' 😉. The hottest curry at the Indian market was 'Mother in-law's tongue'.
I could never do either. I'm still standing though 😀
That said, the hottest thing I ever ate was a Thai dish in Tokyo. My wife and I never went back there again.
I could never do either. I'm still standing though 😀
That said, the hottest thing I ever ate was a Thai dish in Tokyo. My wife and I never went back there again.
That depends on the speed. If they can down 10 ales in 10 hours, that's not much.
It also depends on the glassware the bar uses.
2-3 hours max and it would have been pints. After the 4th or 5th I’d be looking for an exit.
Either you were not paying attention or the person doing the talking on the radio had not done his homework. The Vin in Vindalo comes from Vinha. Albeit the Maderia may have turned to vinegar after an ocean voyage packed in with pork salt and garlic.
The Portugese also begat Pav Bhaji when they took over Maharastra (or more correctly after they left).
I find those glasses interesting. We too have the same glasses in our bars or they sure look like it. The smallest isn't in the mix but the 2nd smallest is called a glass and is a 12 oz glass that is served with 10 oz of beer in it. The larger one is an 18oz glass serving 16oz called a pint, which it is, but only in the USA. There is also the thick walled, straight sided glass caed a pint and the barrel type handled tankards which again are called pints with 18/16 again. Our jugs are also called pitchers and vary in size. Another popular one nowadays is the Flight. 4x5 oz glasses for tasting. Served on a long wood platter.
I've yet to find out quite why the British ignored their own units (multiples of 14 or 16) when it came to the imperial pint. My googling skills have failed me on that research.
Actually it appears that we re-defined things in 1824 and you stuck with the old units. I hadn't realised that the difference in a fluid oz was due to UK measuring water and America measuring wine.
Back on food. Tonight's supper was what they refer to in India as a 3-course dinner: Roti, Sabji and Daal. yes its only one course! Sabji tonight was bhindi which I love, despite it being a bit of a marmite vegetable for many. As ever the spice mix is a closely guarded secret passed from mother to daughter.
Back on food. Tonight's supper was what they refer to in India as a 3-course dinner: Roti, Sabji and Daal. yes its only one course! Sabji tonight was bhindi which I love, despite it being a bit of a marmite vegetable for many. As ever the spice mix is a closely guarded secret passed from mother to daughter.
Your '3 course' sounds delicious. Tonight I will stand in front of the fridge with the doors open and lick anything cold. I hope that doesn't include my wife.
That would still depend on the pacing. If this is the rate, I doubt even the "real men" would be standing straight.
I used to hang around with the university womens rugby team. Some of them could neck a pint like that. Scary to watch.
well that was silly 😛 It was back then I discovered the ability of some Polish girls to drink spirits in scary quantities. I just about lived to tell the tale.
Ever see a copy of Ripley's - Believe it or Not?
When Napoleon invaded Egypt he directed a young captain to set up a food 'dump' and this young Frenchman paid a young Arab sheikh to guard this huge buried food dump.
Fast forward to WW1 and North Africa and a young lieutenant in the British army was moving through an Arab community when a messenger from HQ arrived and asked where he could find this lieutenant, this was heard by some Arabs close by. A young Arab boy came to him and through an interpreter told him there was a sheikh that had a message for him.
He was very old and said he had waited a long time for this French captain to return so that he could fulfill his word to the French. The old man made him repeat his name and then told him where the food dump was hidden.
This bemused the British lieutenant who for amusement followed the old man's directions and lo and behold there was a food dump and it was full of tins of food. Because it had been buried quite deep and had kept a permanent temperature for all those years when opened the contents were still edible.
It turned out that the British lieutenant was directly related to Napoleon's captain and of course had the same surname. It turned out that the sheikh was about 16 when he took on the responsibility of guarding the secret dump, so he was over 130 years old!
As long as a tin doesn't rust and is kept at cool temperature it can last an awful long time.