Dateline: January 2, 2021 Pork Vindaloo and Aloo Gobi

 I was seriously jonesing for some spicy food.  I had ordered from FD 3 pounds of pork stew meat.  What arrived was beautiful large chunks of pork with very little excess fat.

I used Mahdur Jaffrey's recipe for pork vindaloo and Urvashi Pitre's Aloo Gobi.

This is one of my absolute all time favorites!  I love a vinegary peppery vindaloo, not super burn-your-mouth vindaloo, but one with a distinct vinegar flavoring.  Many recipes call for cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar, I prefer white distilled vinegar personally.  As I had a TON of couscous left over from last night, no need for rice.

Ingredients

2 t whole cumin seeds

2-3 hot dried chillies

1 t black pepper corns

1 t cardamom seeds

3 in cinnamon stick

1.5 t whole black mustard seeds

1 t fenugreek seeds

5 T white vinegar

1.5 - 2 t salt

1 t light brown sugar

10 T vegetable oil

2 med onions, sliced into half moon rings

1.33 c water, divided

2 lbs boneless pork cut into cubes

1 in cube fresh ginger peeled a

1 small head garlic, cloves peeled

1 T ground coriander seeds

.5 t turmeric

Method

1.  Grind cumin seeds, chilis, peppercorns, cardamom, cinnamon, mustard, and fenugreek in a spice grinder until fine.  Put in a bowl and add vinegar, salt, and brown sugar.  (I used 1/2 t molasses instead, I like the darker flavor).  Mix and set aside

2.  Heat oil in a wide pan (use a pan large enough to hold the pork) to and fry onions until brown and crisp.  Remove with slotted spoon and put into a jar of a blender.  Add 2 -3 T water and blitz until smooth.  Add to spices and vinegar.  This is your vindaloo paste.  Make double or triple and freeze rest for another day!

3.  Pat meat cubes dry and in a spice grinder add garlic and ginger with a little water, if necessary, and process to a paste.

4.  Reheat pan and add pork cubes a few at a time and lightly brown in batches holding in a clean bowl.  

5.  Add garlic ginger paste to pan after finishing up the pork cubes and stir for a few seconds, add coriander and turmeric and stir for another few seconds.  Add pork and any juices in the bowl, as well as the vindaloo paste.  Add 1 c water, stir well to coat.  Bring to a boil and reduce flame to a simmer.  Cover and cook until pork is tender.  Be sure to stir a few times as the sauce will be thick.  Feel free to add more water or stock so that it doesn't scorch.

plain old left over couscous

Aloo Gobi - potatoes and cauliflower