Fancy A Hot One?

Actually, despite its reputation, this one is not screamingly hot, just very intensely spicy.  It needs a bit of messing around, but it's really worth it in terms of flavour.

Recipe for: CURRY – (PORK) VINDALOO 

Ingredients: 

• Spices (1)
• 2 tsps whole cumin seeds
• 3-5 hot dried chillies
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp cardamom seeds (take out of cases)
• 3”/ 2cm stick cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsps mustard seeds
• Spices (2)
• 1 tsp fenugreek
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp light brown sugar
• 5 tblsp white wine vinegar
• 10 tblsp vegetable oil
• 6-7 oz/ 200g onions, peeled & sliced into fine half-rings
• 225ml water
• 2lb/ 900g boneless pork shoulder, cut into cubes (or use chicken/ lamb)
• 1” cube fresh ginger, peeled & coarsely chopped
• 8-10 cloves garlic, peeled, roughly chopped
• Spices (3)
• 1 tblsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp turmeric

Method: 

1. grind all spices (1) in a grinder.  Place powder in a bowl
2. into the bowl, add spices (2).  Mix & set aside.
3. put the garlic & fresh ginger into a liquidiser & make a paste with a small amount of water.  Set aside.
4. heat the oil in a large casserole.  Add the onions and cook until the onions are well browned.  It’s important to get the brown caramelisation, which can take twenty minutes or so.
5. remove with a slotted spoon to a clean liquidiser.  Add a little water & process to a brown sludge.  Add this to the vinegar/ spices paste – this creates the vindaloo paste.
6. heat a little more oil in a large casserole and brown the cubed meat in batches, using a slotted spoon to remove the meat into a dish whilst you cook the rest.
7. turn down the heat a little, adding more oil if needed, to build the dish
8. first add the garlic/ ginger paste & fry for a few moments
9. add spices (3), mix well & stir for a few more minutes
10. add the vindaloo paste and cook for a few more minutes
11. when well blended, return the browned meat & any accumulated juices to the casserole.
12. add a little water to create the gravy, then bring to a gentle simmer.
13. cover & simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

What else you need to know: 

1. the gravy/ sauce will be thin, but should be very intensely flavoured
2. the dish need not be too hot – just adjust the chillies in the first lot of spices.  The idea is to get a dish which is very spicy, rather than very hot.