“The Big 8 - The only curry recipes you’ll ever need!” - Part 5/8
Vindaloo has a pretty bad rep, being the lager louts favourite, but it’s actually a very traditional dish and a great example of early fusion cookery. It originated in Portugal - the Portuguese spice traders brought their traditional pork dish “vin des alhos” to the sub-continent, where the meat is braised in wine and garlic. The Indians substituted wine for wine vinegar and added lots of chilli and a little spice. This traditional recipe has a fantastic flavour.
It might look a little strange to see beef in a curry as it’s not often seen in Indian restaurants here. But many Indians, such as Parsees, Muslims and Christians regularly eat beef and many traditional recipes exist for beef. Even some Hindus will eat “bull” beef or buffalo, only omitting the cow from their diet for religious reasons. Vindaloo is more commonly prepared with diced pork so you can easily substitute the beef.
Vindaloo should taste sour and pungent from the chillies and red wine vinegar. It’s for serious curry aficionados only, but you could try reducing the amount of chilli if you want a milder dish.
I love that this dish is so vastly different from the Kashmiri Lamb Rogan Josh and South Indian Lamb Curry that I cook. I think the important thing for us Westerners cooking Indian food is to embrace the differences between all of these dishes. It’s all too easy to expect every curry to taste the same, as it does in a bog-standard curry house.
Ingredients
- 1.2kg stewing beef
- 2-3 tbsp sunflower/groundnut oil
- 500g onions, chopped (about 3 large onions)
- 15 cloves garlic, peeled
- 50g root ginger, peeled and chopped roughly (about the size of a golf ball)
- 1 tbsp of each of the following: cumin seeds, poppy seeds, garam masala
- 20 curry leaves (fresh, if possible)
- 5 cloves
- 400g canned tomatoes
- 3 tbsp concentrated tomato pureé
- 500ml chicken stock
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp red chilli flakes
- ½ tbsp each of the following: paprika, turmeric
- 1½ tbsp red wine/cider vinegar
- 1 tsp light muscovado sugar
- handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped (optional)
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
- Prepare two masalas - one with the ground spices (chilli flakes, garam masala, paprika, turmeric) and one with the whole spices (cumin seeds, cloves, curry leaves, poppy seeds). Set aside.
- Place a deep cast-iron casserole on the hob and heat the oil. Add the onions and cook them gently for around 30 minutes until soft and light brown in colour.
- In the meantime, blitz the garlic, root ginger, tomatoes and water in a blender until smooth. Remove the browned onions from the casserole using a slotted spoon and add to the blender. Blend again until very smooth.
- Put the casserole back on the heat. There should be a little residual oil, but you can add a little extra. Add the masala made from whole spices and stir fry for a minute to release the flavours.
- Add the onion/tomato mixture to the casserole, then add the diced beef and the ground spice masala. Add the chicken stock, salt, vinegar, sugar and tomato pureé, then stir to combine. Cover the casserole and transfer to the oven and cook for about 2-2½ hours until the meat is very tender.
- At this point, you can spoon off some of the fat which has risen to the top of the sauce, if you wish. This is great with a pilau or plain basmati rice.
Serves 6.
Notes
- Lamb curries are best, in my opinion, because the meat gives a deep flavour to the gravy. Chicken gravies can be good too, but need a little extra help. If you want to make this into a chicken curry, make the sauce as normal and cook in a low oven for 1 hour and turn the oven off. Leave the casserole to cool in the oven overnight. This will really develop the flavour of the gravy. When ready to cook, add cubed chicken or bone-in chicken breasts and cook for about an hour, or until the chicken is well cooked through.
- Restaurant vindaloo invariably contains potato, seemingly caused by some confusion over the fact that potatoes are called “aloo” in Hindi. Potatoes are not found in a traditional vindaloo, but it is not uncommon to find potatoes in other meat curries. If you wish to add some potato to this dish, pre-boil some peeled potatoes in salted water and allow to cool. Fry the potatoes in hot oil with a little salt and a pinch of ground cumin until light golden. Add the potatoes to the curry a few minutes before serving to warm through.
“The Big 8 - The only curry recipes you’ll ever need!” - Part 4/8
This has become my “default” curry recipe and with good reason. It’s best made with lamb, but also good with chicken (see notes below). It’s essentially a “copy-cat” recipe of Bombay Pantry’s excellent curry, of which I’m a big fan. I think it’s pretty close to the original, in both flavour and texture. I call this “South Indian” curry because it includes many ingredients indicative of the region: curry leaves, mustard seeds and coconut.
Incidentally, I recently bought a bag of fresh curry leaves to see if they made a difference to this dish (I normally use the dried variety). I was very pleased with the result. They cost me about a euro in the Asia Market (on Drury Street) for a large bag of leaves. I just rinsed them well, let them dry completely, and froze in a ziplock bag.
Ingredients
- 1.2kg diced lamb (shoulder or leg is good)
- 2-3 tbsp sunflower/groundnut oil
- 500g onions, chopped (about 3 large onions)
- 10 cloves garlic, peeled
- 50g root ginger, peeled and chopped roughly (about the size of a golf ball)
- 1 tbsp of each of the following: cumin seeds, black/brown mustard seeds
- 15 curry leaves (fresh, if possible)
- 400g canned tomatoes
- 2 tbsp concentrated tomato pureé
- 2 tbsp dessicated coconut
- 500ml chicken stock
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp each of the following: red chilli flakes, ground coriander, garam masala
- ½ tbsp each of the following: paprika, turmeric, dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 tsp light muscovado sugar
- handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
- Prepare two masalas - one with the ground spices (chilli flakes, ground coriander, garam masala, paprika, turmeric, fenugreek) and one with the whole spices (cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves). Set aside.
- Place a deep cast-iron casserole on the hob and heat the oil. Add the onions and cook them gently for around 30 minutes until soft and light brown in colour.
- In the meantime, blitz the garlic, root ginger, tomatoes and water in a blender until smooth. Remove the browned onions from the casserole using a slotted spoon and add to the blender. Blend again until very smooth.
- Put the casserole back on the heat. There should be a little residual oil, but you can add a little extra. Add the masala made from whole spices and stir fry for a minute to release the flavours.
- Add the onion/tomato mixture to the casserole, then add the diced lamb and the ground spice masala. Add the chicken stock, coconut, salt, sugar and tomato pureé, then stir to combine. Cover the casserole and transfer to the oven and cook for about 2-2½ hours until the meat is very tender.
- At this point, you can spoon off some of the fat which has risen to the top of the sauce, if you wish. This is good with plain basmati rice or lemon rice.
Serves 6.
Notes
- Lamb curries are best, in my opinion, because the meat gives a deep flavour to the gravy. Chicken gravies can be good too, but need a little extra help. If you want to make this into a chicken curry, make the sauce as normal and cook in a low oven for 1 hour and turn the oven off. Leave the casserole to cool in the oven overnight. This will really develop the flavour of the gravy. When ready to cook, add cubed chicken or bone-in chicken breasts and cook for about an hour, or until the chicken is well cooked through.
“The Big 8 - The only curry recipes you’ll ever need!” - Part 3/8
Rogan Josh, when done well, is one of my favourite Indian dishes. Traditional Rogan Josh is miles apart from the restaurant version you may be familiar with. According to Camellia Panjabi, “rogan” is Hindi for “red”, referring to the deep red colour imparted by the use of mild Kashmiri chillies. “Josh” means “fat”, referring to the fat which melts out of the meat during braising. This recipe uses my standard base curry recipe and traditional Rogan Josh spices such as cardamom, fennel and saffron. The result is a dark, highly aromatic gravy - my trick is to lightly crush some of the green cardamoms to release lots of flavour.
A word on the spicing. Most traditional recipes specify fennel powder instead of fennel seeds - if you can’t find it and don’t have an electric spice grinder, just add the whole fennel seeds. The saffron can be optional as a lot of people don’t like it, but for me it’s indispensable in this dish. Use just a small pinch of saffron threads so that you don’t overpower the rest of the spices. Leave to infuse a little warm water before adding to the gravy. Finally, if you can source dried Kashmiri chillies mentioned above, use those instead of the chilli powder specified below. I add a tablespoon of sweet paprika to boost the red colour instead.
Ingredients
- 1.2kg diced lamb (shoulder or leg is good)
- 3 tbsp sunflower/groundnut oil
- 500g onions, chopped (about 3 large onions)
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 50g root ginger, peeled and chopped roughly (about the size of a golf ball)
- 400g canned tomatoes
- 600ml chicken stock
- 1 cup yoghurt
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp each of the following: red chilli powder, sweet paprika, ground coriander
- 1 tsp each of the following: turmeric, fennel powder
- 6 green cardamoms
- 1 large black cardamom
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 5 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- pinch of saffron threads, soaked in warm water for a few minutes
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
- First off, prepare all the ingredients above. Prepare two masalas - one with the ground spices (cayenne, paprika, ground coriander, salt) and one with the whole spices (bay, cardamom, cloves, fennel seeds, pepper corns). Crack the black cardamom and peppercorns using a mortar and pestle. The green cardamoms should be crushed a little more vigorously, making sure at least some of the black seeds within are crushed to a powder. Set the masalas aside.
- Place a cast-iron casserole on the hob and heat the oil. Add the onions and cook the onions gently for around 30 minutes until soft and light brown in colour.
- Blitz the garlic, root ginger, tomatoes and water in a blender until smooth. Remove the browned onions from the casserole using a slotted spoon and add to the blender. Blend again until very smooth.
- Put the casserole back on the heat. There should be a little residual oil, but you can add a little extra. Add the masala made from whole spices and stir fry for a minute to release the flavours.
- Add the onion/tomato mixture to the casserole, then add the diced lamb and the ground spice masala. Pour in the chicken stock, yoghurt and saffron mixture, then stir to combine. Transfer to the oven and cook for about 2-2½ hours until the meat is very tender.
- At this point, you can spoon off some of the fat which has risen to the top of the sauce, if you wish. Garnish with some julienned fresh ginger. Best served with plain basmati rice.
Serves 4-6.
Notes
- This recipe also works fantastically well with lamb shanks. Brown 4 shanks on all sides in a separate frying pan before adding to the gravy at Stage 5, in place of the stewing lamb. The shanks will take a little longer to cook, at least 3 hours. This is called “Nalli Rogan Josh” and would make an impressive dinner party dish for fans of Indian food.
This recipe is adapted from Rick Stein’s “Food Heroes” book and was given to him by Mumrez Khan when he visited Bradford’s Karachi Restaurant when filming his TV series of the same name. If you’ve been disappointed with home-cooked curries in the past, then give this one a try - the results are superb. I love the way the green chillies are added - they’re blitzed at the end with a little water and added to the curry, giving a delicious, fresh flavour.
Ingredients
- 150g ghee
- 550g onions, chopped (about 3 large onions)
- 65g garlic, peeled (about 1 bulb/12-15 cloves)
- 50g root ginger, peeled and chopped roughly (about the size of a golf ball)
- 400g canned tomatoes
- 200ml water
- 900g boneless lamb (leg or shoulder), cut into large cubes
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp each of the following: turmeric, red chilli powder, sweet paprika, ground coriander, ground cumin
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 200g baby spinach
- 2-4 medium-sized green chillies, stalks removed
- 2 handfuls fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Method
- Heat the ghee in a large cast-iron casserole. Cook the onions gently for about 20 minutes until soft and light brown in colour. Take the casserole off the heat.
- Blitz the garlic, root ginger, tomatoes and water in a blender until smooth. Remove the browned onions using a slotted spoon and add to the blender. Blend again until very smooth.
- Return the mixture to the oil in the casserole and add the lamb and salt. Simmer gently for 30 minutes. The sauce will now be well-reduced.
- Stir through the ground spices and cook for a further 1½-2 hours. Add a little water every now and then if the sauce starts to stick.
- Just before the lamb is finished cooking, make the spinach puree. Put 150g of the spinach leaves in a large saucepan along with a splash of water. Place a lid on the saucepan and cook for about 2 minutes or until the spinach has wilted down. Transfer the spinach to a liquidizer along with another splash of water and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Make the chilli pureé. Blend the green chillies with some water until smooth and add to the curry. Set aside.
- Check the lamb is cooked to your satisfaction. At this point, you can spoon off the fat which has risen to the top of the sauce (see below). Stir through the spinach puree and the rest of the spinach leaves. Add the green chilli puree and simmer and heat through for another 10 minutes.
- Stir through the garam masala and fresh coriander. Taste for seasoning, adding plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Serve with rice and naan bread with some cooling yoghurt on the side, if you wish.
Notes
- The original recipe specifies heart-stopping quantities of ghee, an Indian clarified butter. I’ve experimented with this and have discovered you can easily cut down from 250g to 150g, with no loss of flavour. You also have the option of skimming off the ghee at the end of cooking. The best way to achieve this is to leave the pot to stand at a slight angle for 15 minutes. That way, the ghee will collect at one side of the pot where it will be easy to skim off.
- The addition of pureéd spinach may seem bonkers, but it tastes really good and also lightens the dish somewhat. You could add the spinach directly to the curry without pureéing but you lose out on the excellent colour it gives the dish.
- A note on cooking times: Rick’s recipe specifies 1½ hours total cooking time. I’ve found this does not give enough time to make the meat very tender, which is the way I like it. I cook this gently for 2-2½ hours which gives me the result I want. Next time I make this curry, I’m going to cook it in the oven - 160°C for 2½ hours should do it.
- Finally, important for all curries (indeed, all stews and braises), this will taste immeasurably better on the second day after being left to stand overnight. This softens the flavour of the garlic, onion and spices and allows the curry to mellow. Do give this a try if you can - leave to stand overnight then prepare the spinach puree when you’re reheating the curry.
Variations
- Add a 400g tin of cooked chickpeas to bulk this recipe out and give it some extra nutrition.
- Adding a tablespoon of dried fenugreek leaves gives this curry an extra dimension.
- Omit the spinach leaves and use this as a “base” sauce, adding extra ingredients to make your favourite restaurant-style curry: lemon juice will give you a “Madras”. Adding lots of dried chillies, a little red wine vinegar and some cubes of cooked potato will produce a “Vindaloo”. Add a portion of tarka dal, sugar, lemon juice and some cubed pineapple to give you a “Dhansak”. And so on…
Serves 6.
