Vindaloo Chicken Wings

Vindaloo chicken wings. It had to happen. Ultra-crispy wings in a spicy vindaloo inspired sauce. How can you not want that?

Not enough to get your attention? There’s a crazy tasty dipping sauce too. This is just good living.

Stop for a second. Think about it. Chicken wings. Vindaloo. Put those together in your mind. Vindaloo chicken wings. I can’t stop eating them.

This is not Indian. Not fusion either. It’s Indian-ish. Indian inspired. Fun with Indian ingredients. And I’m absolutely loving it.

Maybe not the healthiest. If you’re watching your weight. This is anti-diet food. Absolutely irresistible anti-diet food.

But if you’re game to walk an extra kilometre or three to balance things out? Read on.

It’s not about a hot sauce

I had a vision. Buffalo goes to India. Falls in love. Makes little buffalo vindaloo chicken wings. Beautiful little vindaloo chicken wings…

I love buffalo wings. Franks red hot. Butter. Wings. Blue cheese dressing. There’s no glebekitchen version. Because I can’t do better. It’s already perfect.

But I did take my cues from it. Hot sauce. Butter. Wings. Dip. That’ll work? Right? And off I went down a path to hell.

Turns out you can’t make a decent hot sauce from powdered spices. At least I can’t. I tried. Read. Thought about it.

And in the end? Epic fail. Don’t try. Waste of time. And ingredients.

Turns out you can’t believe everything on the internet. Shocking. I know. Totally rocked my world too.

The whole concept is fundamentally flawed. Not sure what I was thinking. Why I had hope. Raw spices are terrible. Especially in large quantities.

You can’t magically change fundamentals. No matter how bad you want it. Sad. But true.

I know better. So I have no excuse. I’m pleading temporary insanity. Throwing myself on the mercy of the court.

Vindaloo wing sauce – the aha moment

Vindaloo chicken wings are buffalo wings. Done Indian-ish. Subtle difference in perspective. Total about face in approach.

Turns out it’s obvious. Once you see it. Blooming spices. That’s the key.

Boring. I know. Same as pretty much every Indian recipe on glebekitchen. But if it ain’t broke why fix it?

It’s immutable. It just is. And yet I had to think about it. Embarrassing really…

There is one unsubtle difference though. Butter. Blooming spices in butter.

Not ghee. Butter. Because buffalo chicken wing sauce is about butter. And butter is not the same as ghee.

Those milk solids? They’re tasty. There’s a reason you don’t put ghee on toast.

That flavour is important. A big part of what makes vindaloo chicken wings work in fact.

One important note. Those milk solids can burn. So you need to be careful. Gentle. Low and slow. That’s critical. You need to pay attention. Seriously.

Burn this and you get burnt spiced. And burnt butter. That’s a double whammy of full on seriously not delicious. I know. I did it. Really, really bad.

It’s not hard though. Just mind your pan. Pay attention. Nail this and you get buttery spiced goodness. Perfect for vindaloo chicken wings.

Dare to be different with your dip

There’s an Indian restaurant trick that nobody talks about. For dips. And it’s a good one.

I used to struggle with it. Couldn’t figure it out. My dips just weren’t as good as the ones I was being served. I had to be told. And I’m going to tell you.

Indian dips are about yoghurt. Everybody knows that. Common knowledge. Cooking dogma even. That is a mental trap.

A trap I fell into. Hard. Even when it was on the table in front of me.

Turns out nobody told the better Indian restaurants. The funky ones. So they aren’t constrained. Dogma free zone.

They use a secret ingredient. A very not Indian ingredient. A wonderful French ingredient in fact.

Mayonnaise.

Yes. Mayonnaise.

Adds creaminess. Mouth feel. Things you are never going to get from yoghurt. Not ever.

It’s a good trick. I use it all the time. Now I know. And so do you.

Mayo. Sour cream. Coriander green chili chutney . That makes one amazing dip. Try that even if you aren’t making vindaloo chicken wings. On a lamb burger maybe. That’s a trip to crazy tasty town.

Twice fried vindaloo chicken wings

There’s no secret here. Deep fried is best. Grilled over charcoal is really good. But deep fried is king.

What’s better than deep fried? I’m glad I asked. Double deep fried is what. That’s how you get extra crispy wings. Wings that stand up to sauce.

It’s new math. Extra crispy wings + vindaloo sauce = crispy vindaloo chicken wings. Ok. That’s not actually new math. It’s my math. My math is more fun…

Math or not math there’s food science at work here. Want to go deep? Look into it. Low and slow. Masterclass says initial fry at 275F. A second fry with hot oil. That’s a path to magic.

It’s also the path to explosive decompression. If you aren’t careful. So I’m not going to promote it here. It can be dangerous. Look into it and decide for yourself.

Single temp double fry works. And it’s pretty safe. You get crispy wings. And that quick second fry lets you crank wings out fast.

Twice fried is also way easier to serve

Restaurant kitchens have big deep fry vats. Those vats hold lots of oil. They have big powerful heating elements. So they can fry big batches of wings. I do not have the words to express how jealous I am.

It’s trickier at home. Home deep fryers are small. Woks on a stovetop are really small. Four litres of oil is not that much.

There’s a golden rule when deep frying. Don’t let the oil temperature drop. Things get greasy if you do. So keep your batches small. To keep oil temperature up.

It takes about 10 minutes to fry wings. And you can fry about 10 wings per batch in four litres of oil. That’s not a lot of wings. Especially if you are trying to feed a bunch of people.

The double fry fixes that. You get ultra crispy wings. And the second fry is 3 minutes. So you can really crank them out. Fast.

Your guests will thank you. Especially if they are hungry. And it’s less stress in the kitchen. So everybody wins. Super crispy wings. Three minute batches. That’s a no brainer in my books.

Vindaloo chicken wings are not diet food

How’s that for a headline stating the incredibly obvious?

This is the unrepentant pursuit of flavour. No matter the cost. A little bit savage really. Just like buffalo chicken wings.

I’ve always been super impressed with the buffalo wing. Mad scientist genius. How do people come up with stuff like that?

I’ve always suspected controlled substances may have been involved. Figured it went something like this…

“Dude. I’m hungry. I’m really HUNGRY.”

“Me too. Dude. I am STARVING.”

“Whoa.” “What?”

“I have an idea.”

“What?”

How about we take the fattiest part of the chicken? And we deep fry it. Deep fried fat. What could be better than that?”

“Whoa.”

“Wait. How about we deep fry them AND we dip them in butter and hot sauce.”

“WHOA. Deep fried fat dipped in butter. Dude. That’s AMAZING.”

Turns out it was someone trying to feed hungry kids late at night in Buffalo.

It’s still genius.

Mild, medium or hot?

You’d think anything called vindaloo chicken wings would be really spicy. Screaming hot even. But they aren’t. At least they don’t have to be.

You can take these from mild to incendiary. Something for everyone. And it’s dead easy to do.

The sauce is pretty mild as written. Kashmiri chili powder is not that hot. It’s a flavour and colour thing. Pleasant heat. Not a fire thing.

Enter naga pickle. Naga pickle isn’t traditional in vindaloo. But vindaloo chicken wings aren’t traditional either.

So I feel good about it. This is Indian-ish remember. There’s no claim about authenticity here. Zero.

A little naga pickle adds that magical naga flavour. But in control. Medium spicy.

A little more and you’re well into hot wings territory. And you can take it as far as you want.

Naga pickle is always a trade-off. More is better. But at a price. A palate searing price. Incredible flavour comes with incredible fire.

It’s your call. Mild. Medium. Hot. Incendiary. Make what you like.

But make them. You need vindaloo chicken wings in your life. I know I do. More often than I should.

These are so going on the menu of my imaginary food truck. I’m going to buy an imaginary Ferrari with all the money I make. It’s going to be imaginary awesome.

Vindaloo chicken wings. A little bit decadent. Crazy delicious. And so worth it.

vindaloo chicken wings

Equipment

• A deep fryer is nice to have but a wok or good size pot and thermometer will do as well.

Ingredients

buffalo vindaloo wing sauce

• 3 tsp kashmiri chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt less if using regular table salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper coarse grind
• 1/8 tsp granulated garlic powder
• 4 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp white vinegar – yes, the nasty white stuff
• naga pickle to taste

dipping sauce

• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tbsp coriander chili chutney available at Indian grocers
• pinch black pepper

The wings

• 2 lbs split chicken wings tips discarded. About 20 wing segments
• oil to deep fry
• the vindaloo sauce
• the dipping sauce
• some celery stalks because that’s how you eat buffalo wings

Instructions

make the sauce

• combine the Kashmiri chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and granulated garlic in a small bowl.
• Add the butter to a small (6 inch is good) saucepan or skillet and warm gently over lowish heat until the butter is fully melted.
• Add your powdered spices. Cook gently for 3 minutes. You are cooking out your spices but butter is a delicate thing so you don’t want to push it. Gentle. Taste after 3 minutes. Be careful though. It’s hot butter. If the spices still have a raw taste keep going another minute or so.
• Remove from heat. Let cool a bit.
• Add the vinegar. Stir, over low heat, to combine. It won’t emulsify perfectly but it will mostly come together.
• At this point your sauce is pretty mild. Add a tiny amount of naga pickle. Taste. Add a bit more. Keep going until you get to the level of heat you like. 1/4 tsp would be a spicy medium. 1/2 tsp would be hot. More would be really hot. Really tasty. But really, really hot. Your call. You know what you like.

Make the dip

• Combine the ingredients and stir to combine. That’s it. Masterclass stuff!

Cook the wings twice

• This process really depends on your setup. My deep fryer isn’t big. It holds 4 litres of oil and I find 10 wings at a time is about right. Any more and the temperature drops. And that is not what you want when deep frying..
• Heat your oil to 350F. Assuming your wings are 10 to a pound the first fry should take about 10 minutes. You are cooking them until done. Done is around 175F internal temp.
• Remove the first batch and set aside.
• Cook the second batch. Repeat until all the wings are cooked.
• Let the wings sit around 20 minutes. You can let them sit up to 3 hours in the fridge if you want. Just pull them out when it’s time to serve.
• The second fry is quick. It’s to give the wings that extra crispy finish. They are already cooked so there’s nothing to worry about there.
• Again, you don’t want to overload your deep fryer. Working in batches cook the wings for 3 minutes.
• Remove, drain and toss with the vindaloo sauce. Serve the dipping sauce along side. Some celery stalks if you want to be really “authentic”.

Nutrition

vindaloo chicken wings

Equipment

• A deep fryer is nice to have but a wok or good size pot and thermometer will do as well.

Ingredients

buffalo vindaloo wing sauce

• 3 tsp kashmiri chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt less if using regular table salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper coarse grind
• 1/8 tsp granulated garlic powder
• 4 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp white vinegar - yes, the nasty white stuff
• naga pickle to taste

dipping sauce

• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tbsp coriander chili chutney available at Indian grocers
• pinch black pepper

The wings

• 2 lbs split chicken wings tips discarded. About 20 wing segments
• oil to deep fry
• the vindaloo sauce
• the dipping sauce
• some celery stalks because that’s how you eat buffalo wings

Instructions

make the sauce

• combine the Kashmiri chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and granulated garlic in a small bowl.
• Add the butter to a small (6 inch is good) saucepan or skillet and warm gently over lowish heat until the butter is fully melted.
• Add your powdered spices. Cook gently for 3 minutes. You are cooking out your spices but butter is a delicate thing so you don’t want to push it. Gentle. Taste after 3 minutes. Be careful though. It’s hot butter. If the spices still have a raw taste keep going another minute or so.
• Remove from heat. Let cool a bit.
• Add the vinegar. Stir, over low heat, to combine. It won’t emulsify perfectly but it will mostly come together.
• At this point your sauce is pretty mild. Add a tiny amount of naga pickle. Taste. Add a bit more. Keep going until you get to the level of heat you like. 1/4 tsp would be a spicy medium. 1/2 tsp would be hot. More would be really hot. Really tasty. But really, really hot. Your call. You know what you like.

Make the dip

• Combine the ingredients and stir to combine. That’s it. Masterclass stuff!

Cook the wings twice

• This process really depends on your setup. My deep fryer isn’t big. It holds 4 litres of oil and I find 10 wings at a time is about right. Any more and the temperature drops. And that is not what you want when deep frying..
• Heat your oil to 350F. Assuming your wings are 10 to a pound the first fry should take about 10 minutes. You are cooking them until done. Done is around 175F internal temp.
• Remove the first batch and set aside.
• Cook the second batch. Repeat until all the wings are cooked.
• Let the wings sit around 20 minutes. You can let them sit up to 3 hours in the fridge if you want. Just pull them out when it’s time to serve.
• The second fry is quick. It’s to give the wings that extra crispy finish. They are already cooked so there’s nothing to worry about there.
• Again, you don’t want to overload your deep fryer. Working in batches cook the wings for 3 minutes.
• Remove, drain and toss with the vindaloo sauce. Serve the dipping sauce along side. Some celery stalks if you want to be really “authentic”.

Nutrition

Chettinad chicken curry. Coconut milk. Chili. Curry leaves. And a chettinad masala spice blend. This one hits all the right notes.

This is traditional Indian cooking. Homestyle. A staff curry if you live in the UK. Doesn’t matter what you call it though. What matters is that it is seriously delicious.

This one is easy. And a crowd pleaser. Scales really well. A little bit exotic. This is not your every day chicken curry.

Chettinad chicken curry is south Indian

India has an incredibly diverse cuisine. Regionalized. Chettinad chicken curry is from the south. Way south. Tamil Nadu.

They cook to a whole different flavour profile down south. Coconut. Black pepper. Curry leaves.

Those ingredients come together to make some incredible dishes. Flavours you don’t see in restaurants around the world. Which is just a shame. Makes me a little crazy.

Don’t settle for the same old same old

There are nearly a billion people in India. With millennia of culinary history. Do you think they all eat the same 20 things you see on an Indian restaurant menu?

They don’t settle. Why should you? It’s a formula. And I don’t understand why. One of the most diverse regional cuisines in the world.

And somehow it all comes down to the same 20 dishes. Over. And over. And over. The fault doesn’t just lie with the restaurants. People eat it up.

It’s self-fulfilling. But I think it can be fixed. There are some south Indian restaurants popping up. And some funky Indianish places as well. So it’s changing. But so slowly.

So maybe make chettinad chicken curry? It’s not hard. And then decide for yourself.

If you love it go to your local Indian restaurant. Ask them why they don’t have it on the menu. Maybe together we can help the industry understand the world is ready.

I can dream anyway. And wait. Someday Indian restaurants are going to rock the world…

No compromises for this chettinad chicken curry

This is an old recipe. Updated. From the early days of glebekitchen. I’ve had a while to tinker with this one.

For reasons that escape me completely I tried to keep things a little simpler in the early days. As easy as I could anyway.

I made the chettinad masala optional. Gave people an easier substitute. I said you could leave out the curry leaves even. In my defence I did say it would not be the same.

That changes today. Chettinad masala is not optional. I’ve deleted any mention of substitutes. Curry leaves are mandatory. I am now guilty of revisionist history.

I’ll live with the guilt. My cross to bear. But this is glebekitchen. It’s never about easy. Flavour first. Always.

Chettinad masala is a flavour sledgehammer

Chettinad masala is my kind of spice mix. Don’t read too much into the name though. Masala just means spice mix. Like garam masala or tandoori masala.

There are 17.3 million masalas. Don’t believe me? Visit an Indian grocer. You’ll see. That wall of little boxes of spice mixes. That’s the shrine of masala.

You can use a pre-made masala. But it won’t be the same. This one has the power of freshly ground. And that really is major mojo.

Toasted and freshly ground. I can’t explain how much of a difference that makes. You’ll know when you taste it.

Curry leaves are important too

Curry leaves are an herb. They grow on a tree with a name that’s too hard to pronounce. So I’m just going to call it the magic tree. The magic flavour tree.

They aren’t like anything else. Not that I’ve ever tasted. They are the defining ingredient in this recipe. So not optional.

Fresh is best. By far. Frozen is a distant second. I’ve made this with frozen curry leaves. Was not happy.

Before you ask. Dried isn’t even worth mentioning. Might as well add dust. Seriously. Think dried cilantro. See where I’m going?

Mind your onions

Onions are the backbone of chettinad chicken curry. Not a shocker. Onions are key to almost all styles of Indian cooking. It’s the approach that changes.

Traditional Indian cooking relies on deeply browned onions. And that defines the flavour.

There’s a lot of real restaurant style Indian recipes on glebekitchen. I really do like it. But it’s not the same beast. Not at all. There is no substitute for taking the time.

Except maybe hotel style. But then you are just browning the onions in a way that allows you to make multiple curries. So really traditional adapted.

When you cook the onions for this recipe think French onion soup. Golden browned. Takes time. Twenty minutes. Probably more. Until they melt into this wonderful mess of goodness. That mess gives the curry its body. And serious flavour.

Sometimes traditional is best

This is one of those times. There’s something about chettinad chicken curry. The spicing. Slammed up against the flavour of curry leaves.

The bite of black pepper. Balanced by the creaminess of the coconut milk. It just works. In a way I love. In a way I hope you will too.

And if you do, go to your local formula Indian restaurant and demand better. Demand chettinad chicken curry.

chettinad chicken curry

Ingredients

Chettinad masala

• 1 tbsp coriander seed
• 3 whole dried red chilies – I like kashmiri
• 1/2 tsp cumin seed
• 1/2 tsp poppy seed
• 1/4 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 inch cinnamon bark
• 2 arms from one star anise – just break a couple arms off
• 1 clove clove whole
• 2 green cardamom whole
• pinch ajwain

Spice Mix

• 5 tsp chettinad masala – from above (you will have some left over)
• 2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2/3 tsp coarse black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

The chettinad chicken curry

• 1 lb onions thinly sliced (about 2 large onions)
• 4 Tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
• 3 Tbsp garlic ginger paste – recipe link below
• 20 fresh curry leaves Dried is not a substitute. Frozen isn’t really either.
• 2-3 kashmiri chilies mostly because they look good but I like little bites too.
• the spice mix
• 8 skinless chicken thighs – or a mix of thighs and drumsticks
• 1 15 oz can coconut milk
• 2/3 cup diced tomatoes

Instructions

Make the chettinad masala

• Into one small bowl measure out the coriander seed, cinnamon bark, peppercorns, star anise arms, clove and green cardamom. These are your “big” spices.
• Into a second small bowl measure out the cumin seed, poppy seed and ajwain. These are your “small spices”.
• Pre-heat a small skillet over medium-low heat.
• Add the big spices. Toast, constantly shaking the pan until the wonderful smell starts hitting your nose. This should take under 2 minutes.
• Add the little spices and toast around 30 seconds. Add the kashmiri chilies and toast another 30 seconds or so. Flip the chilies about half way through the final 30 seconds.
• Remove from heat. Let cool.
• Transfer the cooled spices to a spice grinder. I have a little dedicated spinning blade style coffee grinder for this. Makes terrible coffee. But it grinds spices well. Set aside.

Do your prep

• Slice the onions. A food processor works for this. If you are good with a knife that’s more fun.
• Dice your tomatoes. Measure out your spice mix. Put on some good music.

Make your chettinad chicken curry

• Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
• Add the coconut or vegetable oil and cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until they are a soft, light brown mess. Think French onion soup. You want these onions melting. This step takes a long time. 20 minutes or more.
• Add the curry leaves if using. Now add the garlic ginger paste and cook, stirring constantly until the spluttering stops (you will understand when you do it).
• Add the spice mix and cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute. Toss the kashmiri chilies in and toast lightly.
• Stir in the coconut milk and tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
• Add the chicken and simmer until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160-170F, about 20-25 minutes. Use your instant read thermometer!
• Taste. You are likely going to need a bit more salt if you used kosher salt. If you used regular table salt you should be about right.
• Spoon off any excess fat (or don’t if you are OK with a few calories – the fat is loaded with fat-soluble spices and flavour) and serve with rice or parathas or chapatis. Or all of them!

Notes

Nutrition