Vindaloo is one of my favorite dishes in the world! This spicy Indian curry can be made vegetarian or with meat and is packed with spices. For those new to Indian cooking, I simplified the spice list, choosing five you might already have on hand.
Vindaloo is one of my favorite dishes in the world! This spicy Indian curry can be made vegetarian or with meat and is packed with spices. For those new to Indian cooking, I simplified the spice list, choosing five you might already have on hand.
Number of Servings: 4
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil 4 shallots (about 3/4 cup), chopped 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon turmeric 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons yellow curry powder 1 cup water 1 28-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes* 2 bell peppers, diced 2 teaspoons ginger, grated 1 serrano chili pepper, diced (don't remove seeds if you want some additional heat) 2 sweet potatoes, cubed 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets 1/4 cup white vinegar 2 cups water 1 1/2 cup dried lentils, rinsed
*Note: Fire-roasted tomatoes add a smoky flavor to the dish, but they do contain a significant amount of sodium. If you are watching your sodium, you may swap no salt-added canned tomatoes instead.
Tips
Be sure to chop your cauliflower and sweet potatoes into same-size cubes so they'll cook evenly.
Shop at a local co-op or spice shop where you can buy small portions of spices instead of large bottles that might lose their flavor hanging out too long in your cabinets. Once opened, spices should be used within 6 months for peak flavor.
Want to get the most flavor from your spices? Buy them whole and grind at home, in a blender or coffee grinder (buy one for spices only).
Directions
Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat, then add the oil. Add the shallots to the hot oil and saute for three minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the spices to the pan, stir, cook for one minute. Add 1 cup water to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, peppers, ginger, serrano, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes to the pan, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the vinegar and water, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the lentils and cook another 15 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
Serve warm over brown rice or quinoa (nutrition info not included).
Spicy, flavorful, and refreshlingly different (for me). Chef Meg, I always make and try your recipes before I rate them, and I almost always love them. However I rated your Spanish Chicken as OK because that was my honest opinion and added comments and questions, and my rating was deleted! :(
- 2/25/12
Reply from CHEF_MEG(1/24/13) Just read your comment. sorry about the deleted comment on the chicken- maybe it was a mistake. I love reading the comments from all the members. Chef Meg
I tried this last night. The only substitute I made was butternut squash for the sweet potato, as that was what I had in the kitchen. Typical vindaloo is fiery. This version is not very spicy to my taste, but quite family-friendly. The texture and flavor is excellent. Will definitely make again
- 3/9/12
I loved this dish! 2 1/2 cups is a way too big of a serving, especially if you make rice or something to go with it, so prepare for lots of leftovers. As others have stated, it did take a little longer to cook than stated, about 15 extra minutes for me.
- 5/4/12
I have tried other "Indian" recipes from Chef Meg and have not been impressed. I find them lacking in Indian flavor and take MUCH longer to cook than stated. Also, nearing 300 calories for a serving of this (plus rice, quinoa or naan) is a little too high.
- 4/28/12
Not bad, but I added more spices. Like another poster, I, too, have rated recipes with 2 or 3 stars, only to see that comments under 4 or 5 are deleted. Very disappointing that honest opinions are censored in such a way.
- 9/16/12
We love Indian food in our house, and this was fabulous. The lentils did take much longer to cook than 15 minutes and I added some cauliflower. I also put on fresh lemon juice & chopped cilantro to freshen it up once plated.
- 6/11/12
This is very flavorful. I have always been afraid to make Indian food at home but I love it out. This tastes as good a going out to an Indian restaurant.
- 4/18/12
This was INCREDIBLE! I didn't have white vinegar, so I used apple cider vinegar instead and I used one large can of fire roasted yellow peppers since I didn't have fresh. To amp up the protein, I served 1/2 serv of Vindaloo over 1/2 cup of cottage cheese. Cooking time was longer than stated. YUM!
- 4/9/12
Why can you not give us the choice of a difficult ingredient such as the serrano pepper and then tell us a substitute which ww could find in our local grocer
- 3/11/12
I added more garlic, and also added crushed red pepper and an extra cup of sodium free vegetable stock because it took longer to cook the lentils than directed. I used french lentils rather than traditional red because I like their texture better.
- 4/13/13
Turmeric and ginger are great for inflammation and recommended by so many health professionals. Sorry I commented before making this...I will come back after I make it tonight. Love the other comments. I eat very little meat.
- 10/27/12
My husband and I give this a 5! I had to simmer it a little longer to get the sweet potatoes to soften more, but it was delicious. We both were content with a much smaller serving.
- 5/10/12
I liked this a lot. Very hearty dish. The mixture of spices made my mouth water. It did take longer for me to cook like some other posters also said, but no big deal. Next time, I'm going to bump up the heat since it wasn't spicy enough for me.
- 4/20/12
I tried this recipe the other day and brought it to work for lunch. Two co-worker's tried it and asked for the recipe. Vindaloo is easy to make and it's very tasty. - 3/16/12
If Chef Meg say Vindaloo's are her favourite dishes then I must try this dish. I have almost everything on hand, except the serrano chili and the tomatoes. Will report back and rate later.
- 2/18/12
Delicious however the list of ingredients does not include cauliflower and the cooking instructions includes cauliflower. It also took a lot longer for the lentils to cook so I had to add extra water.
- 11/23/12
Really good flavor but not very spicy. I'll know for next time. I also had trouble getting the lentils cooked through. I wonder if they should have been red lentils (I used green). I agree with previous commenters the serving size is too large, I ended up dividing into 6.
- 5/21/12