Greetings food adventurers! We return to the Dungeon Crawler World: Earth today for a beautifully spicy Indian dish called Murgh Vindaloo (Chicken Vindaloo). The green dwarf-like Bopcas who work in Safe Rooms are well-versed in human foods and can cook a wide variety of dishes. The first time Carl meets one, he asks for food and asks Tally the Bopca to just make a food of his choice. After confirming Carl’s spice tolerance, Vindaloo is what he makes. He gives Princess Donut a bowl of yogurt – just a small one, since yogurt is not good for cats.

“Murgh Vindaloo, spice level four. Boneless chicken cubes simmered in velvety sweet-and-sour vindaloo sauce. Also potatoes and other spices.” ~ Tally the Bopca, Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (chapter 9)

This recipe is a pretty solid spice level 4, right at the upper edge of my spice tolerance. If you want it tamer, reduce the amount of cayenne pepper. Tally serves the vindaloo on top of biriyani rice with garlic-spinach naan. A large dollop of plain Greek yogurt is a great flavor pairing and cools down the spice a bit.

This dish has a lot of ingredients and a complex flavor, but the process is pretty simple. Make paste, marinate chicken, cook onions, simmer chicken with the marinade until it’s done. Easy, right? Getting the spices finely ground is an important key to the flavors blending correctly. You can adjust this to use any cut of chicken, with or without bones. I think it’s easiest to eat with the cut-up boneless chicken cubes that Tally uses. I did not include potatoes in this recipe since I think they detract from the chicken, but you can add some diced cooked potatoes when uncovering and simmering the chicken if you like.

Murgh vindaloo makes excellent leftovers (either cold or reheated) so if you’re cooking for one, don’t be afraid to make the whole recipe.

Recipe adapted from Yellow Thyme and inspired by Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman.

I highly recommend homemade naan as a side – this recipe from King Arthur Baking is excellent. Brush each naan with melted butter or spinach-garlic butter right after they come off the hot pan.

Bopca Tally’s Murgh Vindaloo

Boneless chicken cubes in a very spicy tangy vindaloo sauce, served over basmati rice with a side of freshly made garlic-spinach naan. This is my best estimate of a spice level 4 on a scale of 1-5.

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Course Main Course

Makes 3 servings

Special Equipment

• Spice Grinder
• Small blender
• Digital meat thermometer

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs cut up into pieces 3″ or so
• 1 large sweet onion chopped (1 to 2 cups)
• 1 Tbsp Oil
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• Salt to taste

Vindaloo Curry Paste:

• 1 ½ tsp whole black peppercorns
• ¾ tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 10 to 12 Garlic cloves peeled
• 1 inch Fresh ginger grated
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 tsp paprika (regular, not smoked)
• ¾ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp table salt
• ½ cup white distilled vinegar

Serving suggestions:

• Basmati rice
• Plain Greek yogurt
• Fresh cilantro leaves
• Buttery garlic-spinach naan

Instructions

 

Make the Vindaloo Paste:

• Put the whole mustard seeds, peppercorns, and cumin seeds into a spice grinder. Blend it all into a fine powder.*
• Add this spice powder to a small blender with the garlic, ginger, cayenne, paprika, cloves, cinnamon, tumeric, sugar, salt, and vinegar.
• Blend it till it's smooth, then blend for another minute. We want this as fine as possible.
• Marinate the chicken in the curry paste for 6 to 8 hours (or at least 15 minutes, if you absolutely can’t wait).

Cooking Time:

• If you are making rice, start it now so it's ready when the chicken is.
• Heat the 1 tablespoon oil in an enameled Dutch Oven or similar heavy pot on medium-high heat.
• Once heated, add the onions. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes (goal is golden translucent).
• Add all the marinated chicken along with the marinade from the bowl.
• Add 1 cup of water to the bowl the chicken was marinated in (to get all the leftover marinade), and pour that water into the pot with the chicken.
• Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Uncover the pot, stir, and leave it uncovered. Set the vindaloo to a simmer.
• Spoon a bit of the sauce into a tiny bowl. Add 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and mix together using a tiny whisk (or a fork) until smooth. (The cornstarch is just a thickener and is optional).
• Simmer the vindaloo for about 15 minutes. Confirm that all the chicken has reached at least 160 F, using a digital meat thermometer.
• Serve with accompaniments of your choice.

Notes

* Spice grinder tip: Get a coffee grinder that can be dedicated to spices only. This is now your spice grinder.  Guard it well, and don’t mix it up with the coffee grinder unless you want some really, really weird morning surprises.  

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