We had a lovely Passover weekend with our family in New York but now we are back in Boston.
I did not have a lot of time for cooking this weekend because of our trip. While searching for ingredients and contemplating my options I happened upon lamb sitting in the freezer. Eureka! At that moment I decided to make a spicy vindaloo for my spice-lover husband.
He loves vindaloo for its spiciness. Every time we get takeout we order lamb or goat vindaloo and tell them to make it extra hot and spicy. One time we ordered vindaloo from an Indian restaurant called “Passage to India” and it was nothing more than lamb pieces in tomato sauce. My husband claimed that he can do better without having any expertise in cooking. After that incident we tried vindaloo from several places in Boston such as Darul Kebab, Dosa Factory, India Castle, Harvest India and Kebab Factory. None of them impressed me.
My husband loves vindaloo so much that one time he bought a bottle of vindaloo spice from Cambridge Naturals. He asked me a few times to use it in chicken or meat but I kept saying that I was not going to use store bought spices to make vindaloo. I always feel so bad afterward.
When I said I was going to make vindaloo this week he gave me an instant smile (as opposed to the slow motion ones). He only gives this kind of smile when I make him a Martini. My mom had several recipes which she tried and tested. I picked one based on our palette.
In The States or outside of India, Vindaloo is known as tongue-scorching curry. It is also known as a dish cooked with potato because “aloo” means potato in Hindi. But the original recipe was very different. It came to India around the 15th century with Portuguese explorers. Vindaloo is from a Portuguese dish “carne de vinha d’alhos” which means meat marinated in wine and garlic. Later it got adjusted to suit the local conditions by replacing wine with palm vinegar and adding tamarind, black pepper, and several other spices. When the British invaded India, they were delighted to learn about this curry because it was still very close to the original, non-spicy one. But when they took this recipe back to England, they made it a spicy, super hot curry. The taste of vinegar and spices disappeared under the blistering heat of chiles. Sigh.
{Sources: Wikipedia and Saveur}
My lamb vindaloo recipe has a moderate amount of heat because I used Kashmiri red chiles which adds color to the dish and a very little amount of heat. I also substituted the palm vinegar with cider vinegar. You can also make it with mushroom or chicken. I can share this variation if you ask. Please comment below.
You can also cook it in a pressure cooker. Add meat pieces with marination liquid, 1 cup warm water in a pressure cooker. Cook it over high heat, until you hear 2-3 whistles. Lower the temperature to medium-low and cook for 12-15 minutes. Take it out of the flame, but do not open the lid for another 5-6 minutes. Serve hot with rice.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lamb meat, cut into 2-inches pieces
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 5 whole kashmiri red chile
- 10 black peppercorns
- 4 whole black cloves
- 1 piece (1/2 inches) cinnamon bark
- 1 teaspoon cumin seed
- 1 teaspoon coriander seed
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seed
- 1 medium red onion,quartered
- 1 piece (1 1/2 inches) fresh ginger, thinly sliced
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1-2 cups warm water
Instructions
1. In a wide mouth open bowl, add meat pieces. Add a generous amount of salt and turmeric to it. Keep it aside for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, in a coffee or spice grinder, add whole Kashmiri red chile, peppercorns, black cloves, cinnamon, cumin seed, coriander seed, and yellow mustard. Work it until smooth. Transfer it to a bowl.
3. In a food processor, combine onion, ginger and garlic. Work it until smooth. Take it aside in another bowl.
4. In the same food processor, without washing, add ground spice from step 2 and vinegar. Work it until smooth, Take it aside in a bowl.
5. After an hour, add vinegar spice paste, onion-ginger-garlic paste, sugar to the marinated meat. Cover with a cling wrap and marinate for 2-6 hours in the refrigerator.
6. After 2-6 hours, take it out. Keep it in room temperature for 30 minutes.
7. In a heavy bottom pan, over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add meat with marination and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
8. Now add warm water. Cover and cook over medium-low flame for 45 to 50 minutes. Open and check the water, if it’s too dry, add another 1/2 cup water. Cook for another 45 to 50 minutes, until the meat is very tender. Serve with rice.
Vindaloo looks so good. Lamb vindaloo and rice is a perfect combo… YUM
Thank you Jyothi 🙂