Beef Vindaloo

Tangy, fiery red and delicious! Another wipe-the-plate-clean favourite of families, especially on weekends.

The original ‘Vindaloo’ was called ‘Carne de Vinha D’alhos’ (meat in garlic wine marinade) by the Portuguese dish. Portuguese sailors brought it to India, where Goans and other Indians adopted it, creating versions of it with their local spices. Vindaloo is always synonymous with fiery, bold, pungent curries.

Soak 7 red chillies in 4tbs vinegar for an hour. Make a paste out of this in a wet grinder and add to the same paste – 1 inch piece fresh ginger, 7 cloves garlic, 10 black pepper corns, 1 tiny pinch fenugreek seeds, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp black mustard seeds, 3 cloves, 3 cardamom, 1 inch cinnamon stick and 3tbs vinegar. (If you don’t have dried red chillies, substitute with 2 tsp red chilli powder (or 2 tsp paprika powder if you really can’t down spicy food)

Grind again and you will get a fiery red paste.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and sauté 3 large onions. Add the red spice paste to a pot and sauté until oil clears. Wash 500gm cubed beef. Add the beef cubes into the pot along with a handful of fresh curry leaves, salt and 3 cups water.

Cook until you get few whistles, on slow flame. When still hot, add a tsp of white sugar. Stir well.

Garnish with fresh cilantro or curry leaves. Serve hot with rice, parathas or chappatis and a yogurt raita to cool it down with.

By Christ & Co.