Lamb Vindaloo

[bbhasin]

DonRocks said:

About eight years ago, I ordered a Lamb Vindaloo at Haandi in Falls Church, and it was the single hottest dish I've ever had in my life. I thought I could eat anything, but I couldn't eat this - there was something about the combination of spices, stringy meat, and hot oil that made the heat in this dish so persistent that it could not be shaken, not with cold water, not with ice cubes, not with anything.

Cheers,

Rocks.

yogurt, milk or chocolate yes chocolate will do it. RIP

[JeffC]

The lamb vindaloo at Heritage India--or at least the one I had four or five years ago--remains the hottest thing I've ever consumed. I love hot food, the hotter the better. But this was another dimension of hot, much like the vindaloo Rocks describes from Haandi. It was delicious--I could tell, because there was a nanosecond of rich goodness before the explosive heat overwhelmed the flavor--so I somehow managed to wrestle the beast to the mat and defeat it, but omigod it was painful.

The raita was the only reason I walked out alive that night.....

[Mark Slater]

The lamb vindaloo at Heritage India--or at least the one I had four or five years ago--remains the hottest thing I've ever consumed. I love hot food, the hotter the better. But this was another dimension of hot, much like the vindaloo Rocks describes from Haandi. It was delicious--I could tell, because there was a nanosecond of rich goodness before the explosive heat overwhelmed the flavor--so I somehow managed to wrestle the beast to the mat and defeat it, but omigod it was painful.

The raita was the only reason I walked out alive that night.....

Same for me. Silly me thought riesling would come to the rescue. NOT. That stuff made my scalp sweat.

[jparrott]

My last Heritage India vindaloo was hot, yes. But damn was it good. No potatoey thickness or boring turmeric laden whatever here.

Get it takeout and go to Solly's and drink $3 PBRs with it .

[DonRocks]

My last Heritage India vindaloo was hot, yes. But damn was it good. No potatoey thickness or boring turmeric laden whatever here.

Jake, I've had this with you at Heritage India, right?

If I'm remembering correctly, that dish was as qualitatively great as any Vindaloo I've ever eaten, but on a heat-scale, it didn't register compared to what I had at Haandi. I had gotten the dish from Haandi as carryout, and I remember after about three bites, I was running up and down the stairs saying to myself, "Please, God, make it subside" - but it didn't. As JeffC described, this was another dimension of heat - I've had all kinds of hot dishes, ranging from Korean hot-pot kimchi jige, to Jamaican Scotch Bonnet-ridden gravies, to vinegary Thai plates with alien chiles that must have registered 100,000+ Scoville Units, but I don't remember anything that just wouldn't go away like this. After ten minutes of hopping around, having made an earnest attempt at religious conversion five minutes before, I began searching for morphine, a gun, a phone to dial 911 - anything to find some relief, but it didn't come. I'm not saying that if you go get a Haandi vindaloo, you'll have the same experience, but that night, that particular dish, that was, well, the only carryout dish I've never been able to eat with the exception of a Sizzling Taurus at Seven Seas in Rockville, which had so much black pepper that it was inedible.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[JeffC]

I think it's sometimes a matter of the moment. Who spiced the curry, etc. I've had vindaloos at Haandi--Bethesda, not Falls Church--that were hot, but nowhere near what landed on my plate at Heritage India that night. But I've had murg makhani at Haandi--I always ask HOT, so they send it out with a couple of conspicuous peppers in the gravy just to let me know they honored my request--that makes me sweat. I've generally found that if I want serious heat at Haandi, I have to ask for it.

Rocks, I swear what happened to you sounds like an anomaly. Did you tell Haandi what happened?

[zoramargolis]

I remember after about three bites, I was running up and down the stairs saying to myself, "Please, God, make it subside" - but it didn't. As JeffC described, this was another dimension of heat - I've had all kinds of hot dishes, ranging from Korean hot-pot kimchi jige, to Jamaican Scotch Bonnet-ridden gravies, to vinegary Thai plates with alien chiles that must have registered 100,000+ Scoville Units, but I don't remember anything that just wouldn't go away like this. After ten minutes of hopping around, having made an earnest attempt at religious conversion five minutes before, I began searching for morphine, a gun, a phone to dial 911 - anything to find some relief, but it didn't come.

I watched a hot sauce contest on television a while back. The judges were tasting hot sauce straight--if you have tasted some of those killer hot sauces that're out there, you have known real pain. Anyway, they were killing the burn with--get this--aerosol whipped cream. Shooting it right from the can into their mouths. As BBhasin notes above, the reason you have raita with your curry is so that the yogurt can cool your mouth. It's milk products that do it, and I'm betting that the butterfat content is significant. Skim milk yogurt may not work as well as whole milk yogurt. And cream'll probably be better than either of those. So, next time your mouth is on fire from Vindaloo, try Reddi-Whip. Or maybe, if you don't want something sweet, some creme fraiche will probably work, too.

[JPW]

I watched a hot sauce contest on television a while back. The judges were tasting hot sauce straight--if you have tasted some of those killer hot sauces that're out there, you have known real pain. Anyway, they were killing the burn with--get this--aerosol whipped cream. Shooting it right from the can into their mouths. As BBhasin notes above, the reason you have raita with your curry is so that the yogurt can cool your mouth. It's milk products that do it, and I'm betting that the butterfat content is significant. Skim milk yogurt may not work as well as whole milk yogurt. And cream'll probably be better than either of those. So, next time your mouth is on fire from Vindaloo, try Reddi-Whip. Or maybe, if you don't want something sweet, some creme fraiche will probably work, too.

Sugar, or more exactly sugar dissolved in water. That was what the good Dr. Scoville originally used to dissolve the "heat" and come up with his scale.

[Al Dente]

The day after...

[Scott Johnston]

We called these "whip its" in college. Tends to freeze your brain and kill brain cells......

Anyway, they were killing the burn with--get this--aerosol whipped cream. Shooting it right from the can into their mouths.

[ohstate]

I love Vindaloo! Almost never order anything else at an indian restaurant. I once ordered it extra hot at Haandi after a weak showing of heat at a different establishment. That was a bit over the top, even for me. I've also ordered it as a "7" on a scale of 1-10, with "6" being akin to Mexican food, according to the server. Well... I don't know where he was eating his Mexican food, but this was much hotter than that. I asked him who ordered "10's", and he laughed and said "Texans". I do always order the raita and naan to cool it off a bit. I learned the milk/dairy trick when as a child, I snuck into the refrigerator and snacked on some "pickles" that turned out to be hot peppers instead. After practically drowning myself in water, milk straight from the carton put out that fire.

[Pool Boy]

Resurrecting this thread because I also love Vindaloo, but I often no longer order it because it is sometimes too damn hot for me these days (and I love spicy food). My preference these days is for experiencing spicy heat when there is still nuance and flavor and not just pure spicy heat for spicy heat's sake. I have no desire to put my mouth, tongue and throat through that going forward.  Curry Leaf in Laurel, MD can make a not quiiiiite as crazy hot version if you ask.

[DonRocks]

16 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

Resurrecting this thread because I also love Vindaloo, but I often no longer order it because it is sometimes too damn hot for me these days (and I love spicy food). My preference these days is for experiencing spicy heat when there is still nuance and flavor and not just pure spicy heat for spicy heat's sake. I have no desire to put my mouth, tongue and throat through that going forward.  Curry Leaf in Laurel, MD can make a not quiiiiite as crazy hot version if you ask.

With Indian food, people make the mistake of cooling the fire with water, and that's a huge mistake; the antidote is Raita (or anything milk-based). This is why certain Thai foods have no escape - there's no dairy at all.

[funkyfood]

5 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

With Indian food, people make the mistake of cooling the fire with water, and that's a huge mistake; the antidote is Raita (or anything milk-based). This is why certain Thai foods have no escape - there's no dairy at all.

that's why I go for thai iced tea/coffee