
Cariema Isaacs’ Goan Beef Vindaloo
Inspired by her father, Cariema's Beef Vindaloo is vibrant with freshly ground spices and good quality ingredients.
- Serves: 4-6 |
- Difficulty: moderate
- Prep Time : 24:20 hours |
- Cook Time : 1:30 hours


Ingredients
Spice Blend
1 tsp (5 ml) coriander seeds
1 Tbsp (7.5 ml) black peppercorns
1 whole clove
1 cinnamon stick
2 dried Kashmiri chillies
2 black cardamom pods (optional)
Marinade
2 shallots or 1 small onion, halved
4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tsp (5 ml) chilli powder (reduce the chilli powder for a milder curry)
½ tsp (2.5 ml) turmeric
1 Tbsp (15 ml) canola oil
1 Tbsp (15 ml) tamarind paste
1 Tbsp (15 ml) white or brown vinegar
1 ½ Tbsp (22.5 ml) soft dark brown sugar
1 tsp (2.5 ml) salt
Curry
750 g beef shin, bone in, cut into 3 cm-thick medallions
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 medium-size ripe tomatoes, skinned and grated
salt to taste
1 green chilli, sliced lengthwise (optional)
1 C (125 ml) water
Method
Spice Blend
Heat a pan on medium heat and lightly toast all the whole spices, dried chillies and cardamom (if using). Toast for a minute or until the spices start emitting their fragrant aromas, and then remove from the heat.
Place the spices into a grinder and blend to a fine powder. Set aside.
Marinating the meat
Pat the meat dry with a paper towel and set it aside in a bowl.
Place all of the marinade ingredients into a food processor and blitz until it forms a smooth paste.
Add the paste and spice blend to the meat and gently massage it into the meat.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Curry
Heat the oil in a medium size saucepan on medium-high heat.
Add the onion and adjust the heat to medium. Fry the onion for 5 minutes or until golden.
Increase the heat to high, add the meat and the marinade and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Adjust the heat to medium and stir in the tomatoes, salt, chilli (if using) and water. Cook covered for 60 minutes, check tenderness and if the meat is still a little tight give it another 30 minutes.Add a dash of water if you find the curry is too dry.
Serve hot with fluffy basmati rice.