The chicken vindaloo has to be my all time favourite dish.

For me, it has the perfect balance of fiery spices and delicious flavour.

Here is a step by step guide on how to prepare it at home.

Ingredients:

A pack of 6 chicken thighs (with skin removed).

1 table spoon (or more) of Kashmiri chillies.

2 tea spoons of garlic & ginger paste.

1 table spoon of chilli powder.

1 table spoon of curry powder.

A liberal sprinkle of Garama Masala.

A couple of medium sized tomatoes chopped up into quarters.

1 1/2 chef spoon of oil.

1 chefs spoon of tomato paste.

1 1/2 table spoon of yogurt.

1 chicken Oxo cube.

Step 1 – Create the paste.

Fry the 1 1/2 chefs spoon of oil in a pan on a medium to high heat.

Add the garlic and ginger paste and stir in the oil (If the heat is on too high then this may spit so please make sure it is on a medium/high heat).

Add the table spoon of Kashmiri chillies and stir together with the paste (you cant really add too many Kashmiri chillies to this dish, this is where a lot of the flavour comes from. I often add more).

Once the Kashmiri chillies have turned a light brown then add the curry powder and stir for a minute, then add the chilli powder and stir for another a minute.

Add the tomato paste to the frying pan to create a thick paste (I recommend turning the heat down to medium to prevent burning the paste at this point).

Add the chicken.

Make sure to peel the skin off the chicken thighs first.

Fry the chicken in the pan with the paste and keep stirring on full heat (this will singe the flavour of the paste onto the chicken giving it a lovely colour).

Boil some water and pour into a small plastic jug then add the chicken stock and stir. Add a chefs spoon of chicken stock into the chicken and paste and continue to fry until it cooks through.

After a few minutes add another chefs spoon of chicken stock.

Once the stock has given the paste a chance to moisten up, spread the paste around the chicken evenly, and cook through – add a sprinkle of Garam Masala over the dish and continue to stir.

Add the quartered tomatoes and continue to fry.

Add the 1 1/2 table spoons of yogurt to the dish and stir it through (this will give the vindaloo a nice colour and more of a creamy sauce).

Slow cooker

Put your dish into a slow cooker on a low heat for a couple of hours (This really brings out the spices and gives the dish a chance to marinade and cook through the chicken in the middle).

Garnish with some coriander if you wish. (This is more to give the dish a visual pop more than anything).

At your discression.

The best thing about this dish is its versatile enough to make it your own. I always add a can of potatoes which soaks up the sauce nicely in the slow cooker. I also like to add Scotch Bonnets or any other hot chilli I can find. This is better done at the same time as adding the tomatoes at the end of the frying or as you put it in the slow cooker.

I hope you have enjoyed my vindaloo recipe. For those of you brave enough to give it a whirl then I would absolutely love to hear your feedback on the Cambridge Curry Community or Cambridge Foodies Facebook groups!