What you can do with leftover wine
What happens when you have a bottle of red wine, a kilo of mutton, a book exploring royal Indian cuisine and an urge to make something off the beaten track for the family’s Sunday lunch? A Wine-daloo!
There was a chapter tracing the evolution of vindaloo in Indian kitchens, in Lizzie Cunnigham’s book Curry, which made me want to recreate the dish. With very little time to go out and get some chicken or duck, I settled for mutton and decided to marinate it in a bottle of red wine, crushed garlic and rosemary. After this, I got down to the business of roasting spices. At this point, my grandmother, who was out to investigate why alcohol was being used in the kitchen, decided to teach me a valuable lesson about the roasting. “Chillies take a long time, while jeera, haldi and khuskhus burn easily,” she told me, putting her trusted half-a-century-old kadhai on the stove. As the chillies turned a deeper red, we tossed in cloves, black peppercorns, poppy, cumin and lastly turmeric powder. At this point the collective aroma of the wine mix and the toasted spices was making me feel rather confident, but the next morning, as we did the tadka for the curry and let the wine-soaked meat sizzle, I wasn’t too sure if the thing was going to work. ‘That’s too much wine!’ I thought. But there was no plan-B and so, I threw in some pureed tomatoes to balance out the wine — a move many vindaloo loyalists might frown at. With some nervousness, the ‘Wine’-daloo was served alongside fresh Irani Pao.
The collective “Wow!” at the table was enough to convince me that my modifications to Ms Cunnigham’s recipe must be recorded!
Wine-daloo
Ingredients
Wine-marinade:lA bottle of red wine l5-6 cloves garlic
l1/2 tbsp rosemary Spice-marinade: l2-3 big dried chillies l1tsp cumin seeds l1tsp poppy seeds l6-8 cloves l10-15 peppercorns l1/2 tsp turmeric l2 fresh red chillies l 1tbsp red wine vinegar l1tbsp tamarind paste l10 large cloves garlic l3/4 inches fresh ginger Curry: l4-6 tbsp vegetable oil l1tsp mustard seeds l3/4 inch cinnamon l1 big onion chopped l 4-5 tomatoes, pureed l 1 cup waterl Salt lPinch of jaggery lCurry leaves
Method:
l Soak mutton in wine, garlic and rosemary for 3-4 hours. Dry roast the dried chilies, clove, pepper, poppy, cumin and turmeric (in that order). Grind to fine powder. Grind remaining ingredients (red chillies, tamarind, ginger, garlic and vinegar) to a paste. Mix the dry masala with this paste.
l After five hours, drain the wine (leaving very little in) into a jar. Refrigerate this mix. Rub the paste into the meat, and leave it in the fridge overnight.
l Next morning, remove the meat from the fridge. Place it in the pressure cooker with half the wine mix (drained from the meat) and a cup of water and cook for about 25-30 minutes.
l In a large pan heat the oil and add in the mustard seeds. Once they start popping (beware they can sting your arm!), throw in the cinnamon and onion. Continue to saute until the onion browns. Now add the tomato and allow the sauce to come to a boil. Mix in the cooked mutton and add the rest of the wine concoction. Once this comes to a boil, thrown in the jaggery and curry leaves, mix well and take it off the stove.
l Serve after about half an hour, giving meat and the curry enough time to steep together.
This tastes best with Irani pao and a siesta after lunch is absolutely necessary!
What happens when you have a bottle of red wine, a kilo of mutton, a book exploring royal Indian cuisine and an urge to make something off the beaten track for the family’s Sunday lunch? A Wine-daloo!
There was a chapter tracing the evolution of vindaloo in Indian kitchens, in Lizzie Cunnigham’s book Curry, which made me want to recreate the dish. With very little time to go out and get some chicken or duck, I settled for mutton and decided to marinate it in a bottle of red wine, crushed garlic and rosemary. After this, I got down to the business of roasting spices. At this point, my grandmother, who was out to investigate why alcohol was being used in the kitchen, decided to teach me a valuable lesson about the roasting. “Chillies take a long time, while jeera, haldi and khuskhus burn easily,” she told me, putting her trusted half-a-century-old kadhai on the stove. As the chillies turned a deeper red, we tossed in cloves, black peppercorns, poppy, cumin and lastly turmeric powder. At this point the collective aroma of the wine mix and the toasted spices was making me feel rather confident, but the next morning, as we did the tadka for the curry and let the wine-soaked meat sizzle, I wasn’t too sure if the thing was going to work. ‘That’s too much wine!’ I thought. But there was no plan-B and so, I threw in some pureed tomatoes to balance out the wine — a move many vindaloo loyalists might frown at. With some nervousness, the ‘Wine’-daloo was served alongside fresh Irani Pao.
The collective “Wow!” at the table was enough to convince me that my modifications to Ms Cunnigham’s recipe must be recorded!
Wine-daloo
Ingredients
Wine-marinade:lA bottle of red wine l5-6 cloves garlic
l1/2 tbsp rosemary Spice-marinade: l2-3 big dried chillies l1tsp cumin seeds l1tsp poppy seeds l6-8 cloves l10-15 peppercorns l1/2 tsp turmeric l2 fresh red chillies l 1tbsp red wine vinegar l1tbsp tamarind paste l10 large cloves garlic l3/4 inches fresh ginger Curry: l4-6 tbsp vegetable oil l1tsp mustard seeds l3/4 inch cinnamon l1 big onion chopped l 4-5 tomatoes, pureed l 1 cup waterl Salt lPinch of jaggery lCurry leaves
Method:
l Soak mutton in wine, garlic and rosemary for 3-4 hours. Dry roast the dried chilies, clove, pepper, poppy, cumin and turmeric (in that order). Grind to fine powder. Grind remaining ingredients (red chillies, tamarind, ginger, garlic and vinegar) to a paste. Mix the dry masala with this paste.
l After five hours, drain the wine (leaving very little in) into a jar. Refrigerate this mix. Rub the paste into the meat, and leave it in the fridge overnight.
l Next morning, remove the meat from the fridge. Place it in the pressure cooker with half the wine mix (drained from the meat) and a cup of water and cook for about 25-30 minutes.
l In a large pan heat the oil and add in the mustard seeds. Once they start popping (beware they can sting your arm!), throw in the cinnamon and onion. Continue to saute until the onion browns. Now add the tomato and allow the sauce to come to a boil. Mix in the cooked mutton and add the rest of the wine concoction. Once this comes to a boil, thrown in the jaggery and curry leaves, mix well and take it off the stove.
l Serve after about half an hour, giving meat and the curry enough time to steep together.
This tastes best with Irani pao and a siesta after lunch is absolutely necessary!
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