New Show: Spicy Food and Beer!

This week we cover spicy food and beer. We do a general banter about Vegas, then cut right into different spicy foods and the reasons people love them. I reveal my recipe for Lamb Vindaloo.

Editorial Retraction Vindaloo is not Northern Indian as I state in the podcast (we are profuse with inaccuracies, aren't we? But the recipe is dead on). It is originally a Portuguese dish called Vinha d'Alho that migrated its way to Goa, Southwestern India. It is correct that Southern India is predominantly vegetarian, but this is a transplant. Potatoes were later added by the Indians and the dish gained popularity in Britian. The space comedy Red Dwarf brought the dish international attention, and has been a staple in Indian restuarants for roughly twenty years. Here is my recipe, approximated:

2 tablespoons cumin
Peppers to Taste
2 tablespoons curry powder
6 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1 stick cinammon
1 teaspoon dry mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 medium yellow onion
1 large can tomato sauce
1 bunch cilantro
red wine vinegar
olive oil
5 medium red waxy potatoes
1 -1 1/2 lbs of lamb leg (chicken or pork can be subbed)

I've left the peppers up to you. Traditionally vindaloo is quite a hot dish, but you can adjust this to your taste.

In a small blender, blend the cardamom, cumin, cloves, mustard, ginger, garlic, curry powder, and peppers. This will start to form a dry paste, to which add a few glugs of the vinegar to make it a moist paste. Finally add the oil to emulsify the mixture.

Cut the meat in uniform 1/2 cubes and marinade in the mixture overnight. Note: there is no salt in the marinade, you will salt to taste as it is cooking.

After marinading overnight, extract the meat from the fridge and let sit on the counter for a few minutes while you sautee off the onions. I know the health department would send over a SWAT team for saying this, but it is better to cook and grill meat after the temperature has risen a few degrees, instead of straight out of the fridge. Don't go overboard, warm meat is a bacterial orgy, but it helps if it is above 38 degrees.

Sweat, don't fry the onions. When they are translucent, turn the burner up to "Torch" setting for a good sizzle on the meat. scrape all the curry marinade into the pan. Stir, stir, stir. Browning as you go along. When the meat is sufficiently brown, add the can of tomato sauce and mix vigorously, this will incorporate all the spices. Bring it up to a boil, then down to a simmer. Add the cinammon stick and cut up potatoes. Salt properly, and if you're not immunodeficient, taste the sauce now...the meat should be cooked enough, but don't take chances if you're weak. Cover and simmer on medium-low for 30 minutes.


What do you do in the meantime? Cook basmati rice, of course! If you want, add some saffron to the liquid. You can also cook it in chicken stock instead of water. You can add peas. You can throw a goat head in there! You can hand out leaflets. Go crazy!


Stir occassionally, and adjust the salting during that time. Scrape any browned bits on the bottom. The fragrance will fill the entire house, smelling like a New Dheli bazzar.

Cook on low with the lid off for the last 10-15 to thicken. It is done when the potatoes are easily cut with the fork. Remove from heat and add chopped cilantro just before serving. Serve over the rice and political leaflets, or leave out the propoganda.

Enjoy with a Taj Mahal or Golden Eagle Lager, or if you're an imperialist, Bass ale or Doddington's.

Do all this while you're listening to either Gastrologica or Playing With Fire!

Post Script After listener Monica told me about Andecks, a German beer found in Canada, I went out looking for Monkshof, and finally spelled it right! Of course, my information was wildly incorrect, the name of the beer is Kulmbacher Monkshof, brewed since 1349. There seem to be different varieties of beer with this name, but the only one I've had was the bottle below..which is the only example I could find on Google. Clearly, this bottle or brew was only produced up until they changed the name or style, noting that it is a product of West Germany. That was the beer!