Vindaloo

Busy, busy two weeks at work which explains my lack of posting here. But I did manage to make a few good dishes and remembered to photograph them. Here’s one I did last weekend. I was perusing some recipes for stew cut pork and found one for Vindaloo. I’ve never had it with pork before but it looked interesting so I printed it out then realized I needed several spices. I planned to pick them up while we went out for groceries later that day.

A quick lunch at Rabeing was followed by a trip to a middle eastern market two stores down. They had some of the spices I needed but only sold them in large quantities. That’s when Jim mentioned that there was a new Penzey’s in Falls Church. Huh?.....really…….a Penzey’s!

We were already close to the area but didn’t have a street address for it. Rats. But wait! I whipped out my cell phone and called my brother. He’s a computer geek so odds were good that he would be at his computer when I called. Turns out, no, but he was close by and hopped online and looked up the address for me. Cha-Ching! We were on our way to Penzey’s! I had that look in my eye that makes Jim and his wallet nervous.

I showed a ton of restraint and bought only a few things and made a mental list of what to shop for next time……and there will be a next time. While the store wasn’t as big as I had thought it would be, it did have a nice variety of spices and they were available in various sizes.

So shopping list for Vindaloo complete, we headed home and I got my ass in the kitchen and cooked up a scrumptious dinner. The only thing I would do different next time is to grind the spices up a little finer. It was a lot milder than vindaloo’s we’ve had in restaurants but the flavor was right and the lack of heat can easily be fixed by adding more chilies.

Goan Style Pork Vindaloo – serves 4

You can add more heat to this dish as you like.

2 tsp whole cumin seed
2 -3 dried red chilies
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp cardamon seed*
1 (3”) stick of cinnamon
1½ tsp whole black mustard seed
1 teaspoon fenugreek seed
5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or coarse salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 med. onions, peeled and finely sliced
1 cup water
1 lb pork, trimmed & cut into 1” cubes
1 (1-inch) cube ginger, peeled, finely minced
1 small head of garlic, peeled, separated
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
Cooked Basmati or long grain white rice

1. Grind cumin seeds, red chilies, peppercorns, cardamon seeds, cinnamon, black mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds in a coffee mill or spice mill. Put the ground spices in a small bowl. Add the vinegar, salt and brown sugar. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a wide pot over medium heat. Put the onions in and fry, stirring frequently, until the onions turn brown and crisp. (Be careful not to over-brown or it will have a burned taste.) Remove onions with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

3. Place cooked onions into an electric blender or food processor. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of water and puree the onions. Add this puree to the ground spice mixture in the bowl. (This is the Vindaloo paste.)

4. Rinse blender or processor and add the ginger, garlic and 2 to 3 tablespoons water and blend until you have a smooth paste.

5. Preheat the oil remaining in the pot that you cooked the onions in, over medium-high heat. Cook the pork cubes a few at a time, browning lightly on all sides. Remove each batch with a slotted spoon and keep in a bowl. Repeat until all the pork as been browned.

6. Now add the ginger-garlic paste into the same pot. Reduce to medium heat. Stir the paste for a few seconds. Add the coriander and turmeric. Stir for another few seconds. Add the pork cubes and any juice that has accumulated in the bowl, the vindaloo paste and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently for 1 hour or until pork is tender. Stir occasionally.

7. Serve over cooked Basmati or long grain white rice.

*Take the seeds out of pods if you cannot buy them loose.