What Is Vadouvan?
Vadouvan, sometimes called Vadouvan Spice, is the new "it" ingredient in gourmet cooking. Sometimes thought of as a "French curry" or "a French interpretation of Indian masala" because it is believed to have originated in a French settlement in India. Vadouvan is popular in France and Belgium and had its "coming out" to a general North American audience during Season 5 of the Bravo TV network series "Top Chef."
What is in vadouvan spice? It combines onions, shallots and garlic with Indian spices such as cardamom, and sometimes with fresh curry leaves, although the specifics vary depending on who is making it.Vadouvan is difficult to find in retail outlets, but you might have luck in Indian or French specialty stores. A better bet is to make your own. There are some good recipes on the Web, a couple of them linked below.
Vadouvan Recipe No. 1
This recipe, which is subtitled "Indian Spice Blend," appears on the Gourmet magazine Web site. View the recipe
Vadouvan Recipe No. 2
There are actually three recipes in this post on the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen blog. One is a recipe for making vadouvan itself; that recipe is based on the Gourmet one above, but is altered somewhat for a slightly different end result. There are also two recipes for vadouvan dishes. View the recipes
Recipes That Use Vadouvan
OK, we've given you a couple recipes for making Vadouvan Spice. Now that you have the spice, what do you do with it? Here are more recipes, these incorporating vadouvan into savory dishes:
- Vadouvan orange shrimp
- Cauliflower in cast iron pot
- Fricasee of game hen with creamy leeks and vadouvan
- Vadouvan carrot puree
- Vadouvan haddock
- Grilled eggplant with vadouvan-cashew cream sauce
- Jamie's chickpea soup
Ordering Vadouvan
Because it is still considered a gourmet ingredient, as opposed to an everyday spice, vadouvan remains fairly expensive. If you are interested in purchasing vadouvan online, here are two options:
Submit Recipes/Sources
If you know of other vadouvan recipes on the Web, or other places to find vadouvan at retail, drop us a line at safellow - at - yahoo - dot - com.
