Vindaloo

You can make this vindaloo really spicy, if you wish. It all depends on the amount of peppers you use.

Yes, more Indian food. I love Indian food!

This is a hot and sour pork dish, pronounced vin-DA-loo, which is made in the Goan-style. This recipe is from Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking, and it does pack a punch with all of those red peppers. It seems that Ms. Jaffrey is going to single-handedly make an Indian cook out of me.

I highly recommend this for a family dinner or as part of a small dinner party. Don’t be put off by the giant ingredient list, as many of the spices can be used in other Indian dishes.

If you learn more about the basics of Indian cooking, you’ll soon be developing dishes of your own.

Note the dried peppers, which add both heat and flavor.

What you’ll need:

• 2t cumin seeds
• 2-3 dried red chilies (hot)—the more you use, the hotter the final dish will be.
• 1t black peppercorns (whole)
• 1t cardamom seeds (not pods)
• 1 3-inch cinnamon stick
• 1.5t black mustard seeds
• 1t fenugreek seeds
• 5T white-wine vinegar
• 1.5t salt (tastes just fine without it)
• 1t light-brown sugar
• 10T vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, sliced into narrow rings
• 4-6T + 1.33 cups water
• 2 lbs boneless pork (from the shoulder, if possible) cut into 1-1.5-inch cubes
• 1-inch cube of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 head (not a clove) with all cloves separated and peeled
• 1T ground coriander
• 1/2t ground turmeric

What to do:

1. Grind the cumin seeds, dried red chilies, peppercorns, cardamom seeds, cinnamon, black mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds in a spice or coffee ginger.
2. After you’ve got your mise en place (everything in it’s place/all ingredients prepared), you can begin cooking.
3. Put the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Put in the onions and cook until brown and crisp. When done, puree the onions in a food processor with about 2T of water, add to the powdered spices and mix—this is your vindaloo paste.
4. Dry the meat of any moisture, and brown all sides over med-high heat and remove batches of meat and set it aside.
5. When all meat has been browned, turn the heat down to medium and puree the ginger and garlic (with a little water) and add to the pot/pan in which you browned the meat. Stir for about 20 seconds until it is fragrant. Add the coriander and turmeric and stir for 20 more seconds.
6. Add the meat back to the pan, along with any meat juices from the plate it had been removed to. Add the vindaloo paste and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat to a gentle simmer for about an hour. Stir the pot a few times during this time.

The meat should be tender and very fragrant—and ready to eat!

The meat will be tender and juice, surrounded by a hot, sweet and sour curry.