Vindaloo is an Indian dish from the Goa region, and is known for being fiery hot. It’s usually made with chicken or lamb, but seitan makes a great stand-in and really absorbs the flavors of the vindaloo paste. My vegan version is heart healthy, with only a tablespoon of oil in the whole pot. The vinegar and lemon juice give it a major tang factor. I used green peppers and carrots, but next time, I may add potatoes, which are ubiquitous in restaurant versions of vindaloo. By the way, did you know that vindaloo was originally brought to Goa by the Portugese? Neither did I (thanks, Wikipedia!)
Seitan Vindaloo [Vegan]
Calories
134
Serves
3 - 6
Ingredients
- 1 small onion
- 3 fresh hot peppers (preferably serrano), halved and seeded
- 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup vinegar (cider or white wine)
- 2 dried hot red chiles, soaked in water for 15 minutes (omit if you don’t like spicy food)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 1-inch piece cinnamon stick
- 5 cardamom pods
- 1 large or 2 medium carrots, chopped (about 2/3 c.)
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 8-ounce package seitan, drained and cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation
- To make the vindaloo paste, put the first 11 ingredients (through the cayenne pepper) in a food processor and process until smooth.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet or dutch oven. Add the mustard seeds, cinnamon and cardamom pods and cook for 1 minute or until the mustard seeds pop. Add carrots, green peppers and seitan, and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add your vindaloo paste and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, 1/2 c. water. lemon juice, sugar and salt. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until carrots are tender. (Add another 1/4 c. water if the mixture gets too dry.)
Notes
If you happen to see any of the cardamom seeds in the finished dish, take them out. It’s kind of a drag to bite into them.
-
Seitan (Plant Protein)
This was my first foray into the world of seitan, and the flavour of this dish is quite good – but even with the dried chiles it\’s fairly mild for a vindaloo.
Mirna Wong