Beef Vindaloo
Submitted by patdoern
Fiery Goan beef curry with a complex marinade of vinegar, garlic, hot chilies, and warm spices that packs serious heat for adventurous eaters who like their Indian food authentically spicy.
YIELD
1 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
90 minREADY
120 minFair warning: this vindaloo is not messing around.
The marinade is a paste of red wine vinegar, 14 cloves of garlic, hot chilies, and aromatics that transforms beef chuck into something intensely flavored and mouth-tingling.
The long, slow simmer tenderizes the meat while the spices bloom into layers of heat, tang, and warmth that’ll make you reach for rice and something cold to drink.
Pro Tips
- Wear gloves when handling the chilies and keep your hands away from your face (seriously, this stuff burns)
- The 2-hour marinade is essential - don’t skip it or the flavors won’t penetrate the beef
- Serve with plain basmati rice and cooling raita or yogurt to balance the fire
- Remove the inner membranes from the chilies if you want to dial back the heat slightly without losing flavor
Ingredients
Directions
Place the garlic and vinegar into a blender and mix to a smooth paste.
Remove the tops and bottoms of the chiles and remove the seeds.
(do NOT put your fingers near your eyes, or they will become inflamed).
Add the peppers to the blended paste.
Put cumin seeds, tumeric, mustard, ginger, salt and sugar into a small bowl and mix together.
Pour this mixture into the blender.
Remove the peel from the lemon, squeeze the juice, discard the pips and chop the inner pulp.
Add the juice and the pulp to the blender, then blend thouroughly.
Place the beef into a bowl and pour the blended mixture over it.
Stir in the poppy seeds and marinate for two hours.
(Be careful not to spill this marinade, or you might have to move from your home!) After meat is marinated, finely slice the onion.
Pour some clarified butter a skillet over medium heat, and add the onions.
Cook until opaque.
Add the bay leaves and cloves. With a slotted spoon, lift the meat from the marinade and add to the frying onions, increasing the heat so that the meat is sealed quickly.
When the meat is sealed all over, add the marinade.
Cover tightly, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
After the meat has cooked for 1 hour, add the tomato paste, stirring it thoroughly into the meat mixture, and cook for another 30 min.
When the meat is tender, serve at once - piping hot.
This is very hot! Nice served with plain boiled or steamed long grain rice.
For a nice cooling touch you might serve with a lime cordial.
Note: When using the hot chilies, remove the placenta as well as the seeds (the inside fleshy membrane) as it contains Capucin and can cause inflamation if you eat too much.
Comments
Placenta? Chillis that have a placenta are probably freshly born Szechuan children.
This is not a good vindaloo. It's sweet and tastes like bad spaghetti sauce. Vindaloo should be sour and garlicy. It's also supposed to be hot. I added 2 tsp of ground cayenne powder and 6 dried cayenne peppers. I will not make this again.