In this issue of The Ticket, Shimla Spice presents its hot and fiery chicken vindaloo for all those curry fans who love to challenge themselves!

A vindaloo dish is not only about hotness. If cooked in a perfect way, it should be full of different flavours and leave an aftertaste.

In this way, you know you have had something spicy to eat.

Vindaloo, as we all know, is a very hot, spicy dish, which is found on possibly every Indian/Pakistani restaurant menu throughout the world.

It comes from the Goa region of Indian.

The idea of this dish has come from the Portuguese, who would have cooked it the same or similar way, but instead of using vinegar, they would use wine.

The Indians took this dish and replaced the wine with vinegar to invent this stunning dish, which is now known throughout the world.

Every restaurant would cook this dish in more or less the same way, but adding their own twist and ingredients to cater for the palate. It’s a dish nearly every lover of spicy food must have sampled, or will sample in their lifetime.

But Keighley News readers beware – it is very hot, so be careful when eating it!

Shimla Spice – established in 1998, and with its flagship restaurant in Keighley – was the vision of three brothers, who from a very early age wanted to make a name for themselves in the culinary world.

 

RECIPE

Chicken Vindaloo
Ingredients (serves six)
600g (20 oz) chicken breast cubed
2 onions finely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tomatoes chopped finely
Ingredients for the paste
4 bay leaves
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp salt
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp hot chilli powder
4 tbsp vinegar
4 chopped green chillies
2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp clove powder
1/2 turmeric
Method
1. Grind the mustard seeds, fenu-greek seeds, black pepper and bay leaves to form a mixed powder
2. Combine the powder with the rest of the above vindaloo paste ingredients
3. Mix all the vindaloo paste with the vinegar to form a thick paste
4. Mix the paste with all the chicken breast – the longer you leave it to marinate, the better the taste, so preferably overnight
5. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions for about ten, minutes until they have turned golden
6. Add the marinated chicken in vindaloo paste to the onions and stir fry for about five minutes
7. Add tomatoes and 150ml of water, then cover and simmer for about 35 minutes
8. Take the lid off for the final ten or 15 minutes, stir well and cook the dish

They began their quest in the highly competitive London restaurant scene and worked their way up to head chefs and managers, before returning ‘home’ to Keighley and setting up their first eatery.

It was an instant success and its reputation mushroomed.

The brothers opened a second restaurant in Shipley in 2006, with a launch event attended by Chico, of X Factor fame. And this year will see the opening of a 200-seater branch across the border in Burnley, Lancashire, with more restaurants to follow in the future.

Shimla Spice has won an array of national and regional awards, including Keighley News Restaurant of the Year twice.

It was the Spice Times ‘Best Indian Restaurant in Yorkshire’ in 2010, and was also among winners in the inaugural Keighley News-backed Keighley Business Awards 2013.

It’s latest triumph saw Shimla Spice named best restaurant in the Yorkshire Region and Restaurant of the Year at the highly-regarded English Curry Awards.

l E-mail us at keighleynews.co.uk with your favourite Indian recipe