The Epicurious Wanderers!

Goan Beef Vindaloo

This Beef Vindaloo is a house favourite, it’s rich and vibrant with sensational hints of tamarind and cinnamon. The recipe doesn’t tell you to but I always toast the dry spices for the marinade, it brings out the flavour so much more and adds to the aroma of the dish.

Ingredients:
Marinade
5cm piece of cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Seeds from 12 green cardamoms
1 small onion, roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic, peeled
5cm ginger, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons Tamarind liquid
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons Kashmiri chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
5 tablespoons white wine vinegar

750g boneless shin of beef, cut into 3cm-thick medallions .

2 tablespoons ghee
1 small onion, chopped
3 medium, ripe tomatoes, sliced
3 fresh green chillies, halved lengthways, seeds removed
100ml water

Directions:
Marinade

  1. Grind the cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves, cumin seeds and cardamom to a powder.
  2. Put the onion, garlic, ginger, tamarind, salt, sugar, chilli powder, turmeric and vinegar and all the ground spices into a food processor and blend together to a paste.
  3. Mix the beef and the paste together in a large bowl, coating the beef well. Cover the bowl and transfer to the fridge for a few hours, preferably overnight.
  4. Heat the ghee in a large, sturdy pan or casserole over a medium heat.
  5. Add the onion and fry for around 10 minutes until softened and golden.
  6. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the beef and all its marinade paste and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  7. Stir in the tomatoes, green chillies and water, cover with a lid and cook for around 3 hours until the meat is tender, checking every so often that it’s not sticking or becoming dry, in which case add a splash more water.
  8. Serve the beef vindaloo immediately.