Lamb Vindaloo

Cooking Indian food is a bitch cause you need 9803684039845 spices but at Kalustyans they have super awesome pre-made spice mixtures that are great and easy and oober impressive. This is my fave and people are BLOWN away by it. As I mentioned, this is a main course that goes after my Paneer Appetizer. I sort of go over board and make a crap ton of this ish cause Indian food is my favorite left over and it only gets better the longer it sits. Also, like any food, you can totally freeze portions of this and they keep for months. I'm also gonna show you the best basmati rice.

I don't follow the recipe on the bottle, but here is what I do:

2.5 lbs lamb cut into chunks
1-2 large onion thinly sliced
3 cans tomato sauce (or crushed or whole or whatever kind of tomato ish you have)
2 C water
3/4 bottle Patak Vindaloo
Oil

Preheat oil over medium-low heat in a large pot. Add all the onions and sweat them out for a while... maybe 15-25 mins. Remove onions, crank heat to high, add lamb and cook until browned.
Reduce heat back to low and add in the rest of the ingredients, stir altogether and let it cook, uncovered, for AT LEAST 45 minutes. You can make the rice in the meantime.

Rice. Damn I love rice. I'm after a rice cooker at the moment but I'm too broke to buy one. For Indian food it's straight up basmati, no questions please.

Ite, so get the proportions water:rice from the package (altho it's usally 2:1 without fail... for all kinds of rice). Then, here's the trick for basmati rice: ok, rinse it v v thoroughly in water till the water runs clear. Then soak the rice for at leeeast 30 minutes. Frankly, if you think of it, do it overnight. On that thought, if you're having friends over on Friday then cook the vindaloo the night before and then all you have to do it heat it up and cook the rice. So, that's the trick - soak the shit outa the rice. If you care why you soak the rice it's cause it a. decreases coaking time b. makes it less sticky as you are decreasing the gluetens and c. improves texture. Don't get too involved in that tho... unless you're pro... like me :-P