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Balchao Masala

4.6

(3)

A pickle-like blend of ingredients called balchao, is crucial to many of Portuguese Goa's meat dishes, and usually incorporates Goa's other passion, feni, a potent alcoholic brew made from either cashew nuts or palm fruit. Also omnipresent in Goan dishes is the highly acidic feni vinegar, which reduces the potency of dried red chiles—as does tart tamarind, another key element in this layered, complex, and fiery-hot paste that peppers its way into many of Goa's curries. Unfortunately, neither the alcohol nor the vinegar is available outside of India (maybe even outside of Goa), and so my offering is devoid of both. Nonetheless, it is very flavorful, with cider or malt vinegar standing in as a perfectly acceptable substitute.

Tip:

Pouring the liquid into the blender jar first ensures a smooth puree, so do make sure you follow the recommended order for adding ingredients to the jar. If you are making only a half batch, you might need to add an extra tablespoon of vinegar (5 tablespoons total rather than 1/4 cup) to get the blades to do a decent job of pureeing, just because of the sheer volume of chunky ingredients.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes 1/2 cup

Ingredients

1/2 cup cider vinegar or malt vinegar
1 teaspoon tamarind paste or concentrate
1 cup dried red Thai or cayenne chiles, stems removed
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
12 medium-size cloves garlic
2 lengthwise slices fresh ginger (each 2 1/2 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 1/8 inch thick)
2 cinnamon sticks (each 3 inches long), broken into smaller pieces

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Pour the vinegar into a blender jar, and then add all the remaining ingredients. Puree, scraping the inside of the jar as needed, until it forms a highly pungent, reddish-brown paste.

    Step 2

    Store the mixture in a tightly sealed nonreactive container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

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From 660 Curries: The Gateway to Indian Cooking © 2008 by Raghavan Iyer. Reprinted with permission by Workman Publishing Company, Inc. Buy the full book from Amazon.
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