Lamb vindaloo is on every menu of every Indian restaurant in the world. And it’s there because it is one of the greats. Like madras. Or jalfrezi. It’s just really, really good.
OK. Maybe not every Indian restaurant. But almost all of them. Not easy to find one that doesn’t have it.
I’m biased, mind you. Lamb vindaloo is one of my favourites. Right up there with lamb madras.
There’s just something about lamb and spicy curries that works. The richness and depth of the lamb plays beautifully against assertive flavours. Balance.
This is not traditional style lamb vindaloo
The title says it. This is restaurant style lamb vindaloo. This is not the classic Goan dish.
It’s not pork. There isn’t even that much vinegar here. No description of vinha d’alvos. No romantic story about the Portuguese coming to India. Sorry.
This is what you get when you go out for dinner. Pretty much anywhere in the world. Except maybe India.
If you want authentic vindaloo like you ate in Goa, this is not it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
What it is is tasty. Really tasty. Lick your plate clean tasty. At least for me.
Vindaloo paste makes this dish
I struggled with restaurant style vindaloo for a long time. Just couldn’t get it right. Because I followed conventional wisdom.
Took charming my way into an Indian restaurant kitchen to figure it out. I can’t remember what I was asking about.
Maybe their paratha technique. Or their butter chicken base. Who knows? But when I saw a line cook tossing a paste into a pan it all came together for me.
And now I use a paste. For vindaloo. Always.
Don’t fear Kashmiri chilies
There are 10 kashmiri chilies in the recipe. And a tsp of kashmiri chili power. It sounds like a lot. You’d think it would be incendiary.
But it isn’t. Kashmiri chilies aren’t all that hot. They are a nice balance of spice and chili flavour. I love them because I can add a lot without things getting crazy.
Don’t get me wrong though. This is not butter chicken. As written it’s fairly spicy. If you’ve cooked other curries from glebekitchen you’ll know I spice to medium hot.
Flavour first. Fire second. That’s how I roll. This one is a little spicier than usual though. But not crazy hot. Still lots of flavour here.
If you like a spicier vindaloo just add some hot chili powder in with the dry spices. You know what you like. If you want pretty hot add a teaspoon.
If you want a blazing hot go for two teaspoons. It starts to be hot for the sake of being hot at that point.
I like flavour so I don’t go past two teaspoons. That’s pushing the flavour towards just tasting like chili powder. I am all about balanced flavours.
But it’s your call. It’s your dinner. Do what makes you happy. Be true to yourself. I’m not the curry police.
Lamb vindaloo – the king of curries
King of curries is a pretty strong assertion. Maybe too strong. Everybody has their favourite.
But for me it’s up there. Lamb. Spice. Sweet. Sour. There’s complexity of flavour here. As long as you don’t stomp on it with tons of chili powder you’ll see.
It may wind up at the top of your list too.
lamb vindaloo – restaurant style
Ingredients
Vindaloo paste
- 8 dried kashmiri chilies
- 1 large shallot chopped
- 2 tbsp garlic ginger paste
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp malt vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp water or a bit more – enough to get it to puree
Lamb vindaloo
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 dried kashmiri chilies
- 1 tsp Indian restaurant spice mix – recipe link below
- 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1 tsp kasoor methi – dried fenugreek leaves
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- all the vindaloo paste
- 1 tbsp tomato paste diluted in 2 tbsp water
- 15 oz curry base – recipe link in the notes
- 1 tsp tamarind paste
- 1 tsp jaggery sugar – can substitute brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce – seriously, it really adds a little something
- 12 oz lamb stew Cut into 1 inch cubes and pre-cooked (see note). I prefer shoulder for this if you can get it
Instructions
Make the vindaloo paste
- Stem and seed the kashmiri chilies (not the ones in the curry – just the ones in the paste).
- Soak your kashmiri chilies in hot, hot water for a few minutes. Drain and repeat. Repeat again. You may not need the third soak. You want them hydrated. Soft.
- Combine all the ingredients in a mini food processor or your blender.
- Puree. It will probably fight you. Scrape it down into the bowl try again. If that doesn't work add a bit more water and try again. You don't want a ton of water so add a bit at time. If it still doesn't go, add a bit more. Until it does go. Super annoying. I know.
Make your lamb vindaloo
- Do your prep. The vindaloo paste is ready to go, right? You've pre-cooked your lamb? Combine the Indian restaurant spice mix, kashmiri chili powder, kasoor methi and salt in a small bowl. Preheat your curry base. Dilute the tomato paste. Now you're good to go.
- Heat your frying pan (don't use non-stick) briefly over medium heat. Add the oil. It's ready when the oil just starts to shimmer. You may notice I'm using less oil that usual. That's because there's some in the paste as well.
- Add the Kashmiri chilies and cook for about 10 seconds. Flip them and cook another 10 seconds. You should see little bubbles form around the chili. You want it toasted. Not burned. Be careful.
- Turn down the heat and add the combined spice mix, kashmiri chili powder, kasoor methi and salt. This is the critical step. Stir it constantly for 30 seconds. If it starts to darken lift the pan off the heat. You want the spice mix to cook in the oil but not burn. If your spices burn start again. It can't be saved.
- Turn the heat up to medium high. This is important. The Maillard reaction makes this work. Google Maillard if you don't know what I'm talking about. It gives curry it's Indian restaurant flavour. Add the diluted tomato paste and stir until bubbles form. This takes around 30 seconds to one minute depending on the heat.
- Add 3 oz of curry base. Stir until bubbles form, around 60 seconds. It's like a lively boil except the curry base is frying in the oil.
- Now add 6 oz of curry base and stir briefly. Let it cook until the bubbles form again. Let it cook about 2 minutes.
- Add the rest of the curry base and let cook until the bubbles form. Stir in the tamarind paste, sugar and worcestershire sauce. Turn the heat down to low and add the pre-cooked lamb.
- Let the curry simmer for about 5 minutes. If it gets too thick add a bit more curry base. Do not add water.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or Indian flat bread and a good dal on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi Romain. I have I ruined my spice mix by adding a tablespoon of garam masala instead of a teaspoon? I can add more of the other powders if needs be. If it isn’t going to make a big difference then I’m happy to keep it as it is. Thanks 🙂
If it were any other ingredient I would probably say you are OK. With garam masala I don’t know. Garam masala is a pretty potent spice mix full of really strong, warming spices. I would maybe think about doubling everything else (so a double batch) except not add any more garam masala (so you are effectively going from 3x to 1.5x too much garam masala) or just starting over. I wouldn’t risk it as is though…
Hi Romain,
I have a question about precooking the lamb and freezing it…..I live in Mexico and on the rare occasion we find lamb (leg or shoulder) in my city, it is always frozen…..so my question would be can this be safely thawed, pre cooked and then frozen for use in the future……I thought I read somewhere that it wasn’t a good thing to do if it was already frozen but now I can’t seem to find the reference…your thoughts? thanks in advance.
My understanding is that thawing and refreezing is more of a texture issue than a safety issue. It’s really up to you whether the potential degradation is something you are good with. I haven’t tried it myself so I have no direct experience.
As far as choice of lamb leg or shoulder for curries (or any braise really) I far prefer shoulder. Leg is a little to lean for my taste.
Hello Romain,
I notice you don’t have any pork recipes…could you substitute pork in this lamb vindaloo? or any other suggestions? thanks for making wonderful recipes
You are very welcome! Vindaloo is classically a pork dish so it could work with some pre-cooked pork shoulder perhaps. In general I don’t find the flavour of pork to work too well with Indian spicing. Not sure why that is because I am a huge fan of all things pork otherwise.
Hya Romain, not a query on the Vindaloo recipe but can I use your Hotel style gravy in your Restaurant style recipes and if so do I need to adjust the quantity.
Regards
Derrick
No problem. The styles are different so you can’t swap them one for one.
If you want to use the hotel style gravy with the regular restaurant recipes use the spicing from the restaurant style recipe, omit the tomato paste if the recipe calls for it and thin out the final dish (assuming pre-cooked chicken as well). Follow the hotel style technique. That should work pretty well.
I tend to tweak a bit more than that because the base flavours are so different but that should get you something tasty as a baseline.
Vindaloo definitely our go to curry lol, always have a batch of paste made up and frozen!
Hey Romain, what looks like a sure fire winner in this household and look forward to trying it out at the weekend. As I always have several batches of vindaloo paste in the freezer (in 1/3 cup quantities), from your stand alone recipe, can I use this in place of the paste mentioned in this recipe?
Hard to wrong with lamb! Yes, you can absolutely use the vindaloo paste (and I love that you have some ready to go:-). I did this one as a stand alone recipe to make it easier for people but it’s pretty much the same stuff.