Jamie Oliver's Pork Vindaloo

I'm slowly working my way through all the wonderful curry recipes from Jamie Oliver's cookbook, Food Revolution.  Not just the curry recipes of course, the entire cookbook is a gem, but Joe and I are huge fans of Indian food and when I bought the book and saw Jamie included an entire chapter on curries, I vowed to make each and every one.  Eventually.  So far I've made the chicken korma, chicken tikka masala (which I haven't blogged about yet, but will in the next couple of weeks - it was fabulous, by the way), and this incredibly delicious pork vindaloo.  I had never had vindaloo before but Joe is a big fan of it, eating it quite often at the Indian restaurants near his work.  He said it was just about his favourite curry dish and after making this a few weeks ago, I have to say that I think it's mine too.  Wow! 

According to my sources (Wikipedia, what else....), the name vindaloo comes from the Portuguese dish "Carne de Vinha d' Alhos", which is a dish of meat, usually pork, with wine and garlic. The dish was originally modified by the substitution of vinegar for the wine.  Portuguese settlers brought their original recipe to Goa and this type of curry is the result of European and Indian cooking coming together.

I was easily able to find Patak's vindaloo curry paste at my local grocery store (No Frills) and have seen it since at other stores.  If you can't find vindaloo paste, you can substitute any hot (or medium if you don`t like your food too spicy) curry paste but try and find the vindaloo paste, if you can.

This dish can also be made with chicken or lamb, but we really loved the pork.  I used a pork tenderloin and it was melt in your mouth delicious.   

I served this on top of basmati rice, and I know you all know how to make rice, but I've included Jamie's instructions for the most perfect fluffy rice along with the recipe.  This is the only way I make rice now. 

I also made homemade naan to go with this dish and it was such a huge success, I've decided it needs it's own post, so tomorrow I'll be posting the naan recipe.  Far better than anything we`ve ever bought at the store.  Along with the naan, I served a little Major Grey chutney on the side, which pairs beautifully with curry.

If you enjoy trying different curries, you will love this, and if you've never tried a curry before, do yourself a favour and make this.  Curries tend to be addictive (in a good way), so this may be your first curry dish, but I doubt it will be your last.

Enjoy!

Pork Vindaloo

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2 medium onions

4 cloves of garlic

1-2 fresh red or green chiles, to your taste 

a thumb-size piece of fresh root ginger

a small bunch of fresh cilantro

4 ripe tomatoes (I used a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes - save liquid from can)

peanut or vegetable oil

a pat of butter

1 3/4 pounds of diced pork shoulder (I used pork tenderloin)

1/2 cup vindaloo paste or hot or medium curry paste, such as Patak's

sea salt and freshly ground hot pepper

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup plain natural yogurt

1 lemon

Peel, halve and finely slice your onions.  Peel and finely slice the garlic.  Finely slice the chile.  Peel and finely slice the ginger.  Pick the cilantro leaves and finely chop the stalks.  Cut the tomatoes into quarters.

Get a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high heat and add a couple of lugs of peanut oil and the butter.  Add the onions, garlic, chile, ginger, and cilantro stalks and cook for 10 minutes, until softened and golden.  Add the pork and the curry paste.  Stir well to coat everything with the paste and season with salt and pepper.  Add the tomatoes*, balsamic vinegar, honey, and about 1 2/3 cups water, enough to cover everything, and stir again.  Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down and simmer for 45 minutes with the lid on.  Check the curry regularly to make sure it's not sticking to the pan, and add extra water if necessary.  Only when the meat is tender and cooked, taste and season with salt and pepper - please season carefully.

Serve with fluffy rice (recipe below) and with a few spoonfuls of natural yogurt dolloped on top.  Sprinkle over the cilantro leaves and serve with some lemon wedges for squeezing over.

*I used a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes instead of 4 fresh tomatoes.  I drained the can into a large measuring cup and used that for the 1 2/3 cups of water called for (I topped up the juice from the tomatoes with the necessary amount of water to equal the 1 2/3 cups).

Serves 4 to 6.

Light and Fluffy Rice

sea salt

1 1/2 cups basmati rice

Put a large pan of salted water on a high heat and bring to a boil.  Rinse the rice in a colander under running water for about 1 minute or until the water runs clear (this will stop the grains sticking together later).  Add your rice to the boiling water and wait for the grains to start dancing around.  From that point boil for 5 minutes.  Drain the rice in a colander.  Pour 1 inch of water into the pan, put it back on the heat, and bring it to a boil again, then turn it down to a simmer.  Cover the rice in the colander with aluminum foil or a lid.  Place the colander on top of the pan of simmering water and let the rice steam over it for 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and if you`re ready, serve immediately.  If not, leave the foil or lid on and put aside until ready to serve - it should stay warm for about 20 minutes.

Serves 4 to 6.

Source:  Both recipes from Jamie Oliver`s Food Revolution

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