Pork Vindaloo (v.2)

 

The bunny has been harassing me to post this recipe since I made it a week ago. So here it is. It's actually a recipe from the bunny's friend's dad. Bunny was bffs with several Indian girls during her college days and managed to graduate with basically zero recipes. So I was dizzy with delight when she forwarded this recipe to me several months ago. Unfortunately, I was in the throes of getting my proposal together during that time so did not have the opportunity to make it. Last weekend, I finally got the dried red chilies I needed and threw this dish together. First off, it doesn't actually taste like any vindaloo I've ever had at a restaurant, nor does it taste anything like my go-to vindaloo recipe, which will now be referred to as v.1 (and also tastes nothing like restaurant vindaloo). That doesn't mean it doesn't taste damn good though. It was almost absurdly easy to throw together, although I did spend some time coughing over the chili dust that flew out of the blender. Don't say I didn't warn you. Like many curries, this one tastes increasingly fabulous with time.

Recipe courtesy of Maya's Dad

2 lbs (1kg) meat (a little fat doesn't hurt) - cut into 1 inch cubes

10 cloves of garlic peeled

One medium onion diced

10-15 dry red chillies decorticated (you need to break them in half and roll them to get the seeds out. Use gloves or wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. monkey note: I used 12 and that was plenty for me)

Fenugreek seeds - 2 Tbsp

Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Vinegar 1/2 cup

Water 1 1/2 cups

Salt to taste

Cooking Oil 1Tbsp

Saute meat with a oil for 10 minutes. In a blender - first rough grind fenugreek seeds with chilies, then add rest of the ingredients and blend. Pour the blended mixture over the meat. Simmer cook for at least one hour. Serve with steamed rice. (monkey: I tossed in some more water during the cooking and gave it a stir once in a while so things would not stick to the bottom. Cooked two hours and I included a cubed potato).

I also made some toor dal to go with and that was pretty good too (although again, tasting nothing like restaurant dal, what the heck do those people put in their food??). Here was a recipe I assembled, based on a couple of found on the internets:

Rinse and pick over 1 cup of toor dal. Combine with 2 cups of cold water in a pot and bring to simmer. Skim away the froth that appears during this process. Cook for a while until tender and kind of thick. Add more water during this process and give it a stir once in a while. Takes many 25 minutes. Add some frozen peas (1/2 cup?) near the end. In a separate small pan, heat 1 tbs ghee (I used butter since I couldn't be bothered to make ghee) and add 2 tsp whole cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chili powder and cook together for a minute or so. Add to the dal and simmer a couple of minutes longer. There is a spice that people seem to add to this, but since I didn't have any, I omitted. This is a recipe I will be playing with more in the future.