Two-Potato Vindaloo

I wrote this recipe up originally in early September. My apologies for the delay in posting - life got a bit hinky for a while, but thankfully is now settling out.

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This is the 41st recipe I have made from Plenty. I am four recipes away from being done the chapter on Roots, three away from being done the chapter on Tomatoes, two away from completing the chapter on Peppers, and four away from being done the chapter on Zucchini and Other Squashes. Noting this kind of surprises me - I anticipated ripping through the chapter on Grains far more than I have, ditto for the chapter called Funny Onions. It's interesting to see how this project has gone for having so little structure to it when it was started. I am not certain I'll complete all 128 recipes in the book before the end of the year, but to be roughly a third through is pretty good. Farther than I thought I'd make it, to be honest.

I'm excited to be back at school again. September has always seemed far more like New Year's than January first for me, and the entire month flew by so much faster than I anticipated. It's taking a bit of getting used to being back in my office as I spent much of the summer and previous semester working from home, but I keep outfitting my desk with more tea and comfortable scarves, nesting and getting cozy. I made the decision to tweak my medication and as a result my ability to focus is much improved, so I'll be at my desk until this thesis is finished. It occurs to me that it's easier to focus at school because it lacks a kitchen to tempt me away from my books. ^_^

Part of being back at school is renegotiating my cooking schedule. I now need lunches that are ready to go in the morning, and I might not have the desire or patience to cook when I get home. I also have stored up a lot of different pantry items that I enjoy that have nothing to do with the Plenty project, so I am needing to balance cooking fun and random things with still working my way through this cookbook. I'm sure I'll manage. My office is hosting a potluck for our department once a month, so that will be a good time to share some of the things I've been making. My friend Jenn is heading back to her home country of Australia mid-November as well - she's been my constant tasting companion since I started this project back in January. I'm hoping to feed her all of the rest of the good things before she goes. I might have to get her a copy of Plenty as a going away gift - we've certainly spent a lot of evenings sharing food from this book. Good memories.

I've been looking forward to making this recipe for a while now, as it contains two spices I ended up special ordering. Curry leaves smell incredible and add an interesting visual element to this meal. They don't taste strongly of curry but are unique to themselves, and unfortunately, I can't think of a great substitute for them if you can't track them down. I don't recommend eating them as they are a bit tough in texture. The fenugreek has a smell I can't quite describe, other than it's sort of sweet and nutty and lovely. I might play around with it in some naan or dinner buns at some point. The fenugreek is called for in such a small quantity that omitting it from the dish won't really change it too much, so if you can't find it, don't let its lack hold you back from making the vindaloo. Hopefully you manage to track some down, though. I think it's worth seeking out. Regardless, your kitchen will be *very* aromatic while and after you are preparing this dish. Promise.

Two-Potato Vindaloo
(p. 18, Plenty)

Serves 4

8 cardamom pods
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp vegetable oil
12 shallots (~10 oz in total), peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
25 curry leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 fresh red chile, finely chopped
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 3/4 cups water
1 tbsp sugar
salt
2 1/2 cups peeled, waxy potatoes, cut into 1-inch dice
2 1/2 cups peeled sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch dice
2 small red bell peppers, cut into 1-inch dice
mint or cilantro to serve
yogurt or sour cream to serve

To start: Prep your shallots, vegetables, and spices. I chose to grate my ginger on a rasp grater and I think I'd do that again - it helped it to really melt into the sauce.

I ended up blending spices that were pre-ground, but if you want to follow Yotam's method for roasting and grinding your own, it goes like this:

"Dry-roast the cardamom pods and cumin and coriander seeds in a small frying pan over medium heat until they begin to pop. Transfer to a mortar and pestle and add the cloves. Work to a fine powder, removing and discarding the cardamom pods once the seeds are released. Add the turmeric, paprika and cinnamon and set aside." (p.18)

Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot. Once the oil is hot, add the shallots, mustard and fenugreek seeds and saute on medium low for roughly 8 minutes, or until the shallots start to turn golden.

Add the spice mix, curry leaves, ginger, and diced chile to the shallots and continue to saute together for another 3 minutes. Everything will start to smell really fantastic right about now.

Add the tomatoes, vinegar, water, sugar and some salt and stir until everything is well combined.

Bring this mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, cover, and let simmer for ~20 minutes.

Once the base has simmered, add the waxy potatoes and the diced bell peppers and let simmer, covered, for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Finally, add the sweet potatoes to the pot.

It's important at this stage to make sure that the vegetables are submerged in the sauce in order for them to cook properly - if you don't have enough sauce, add a bit more water to make up the difference. Cover the pot again and continue to cook for ~40 minutes, or until both types of potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

Once the potatoes are tender, remove the lid from the pot and allow everything to simmer for ~10 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit. Serve hot, over rice, couscous, or quinoa, and garnish with the fresh herbs.

This recipe makes a very generous amount and is *very* fragrant. It holds well in the fridge and might even have been slightly better the next day. I found that I preferred to add a bit of yogurt or coconut milk to the sauce to soften it a bit, but I am far more accustomed to coconut milk-based curries than water and cider based ones, so that might just be personal preference. The fresh herbs really helped the flavours to pop, as did a tiny squirt of lime juice. I think I'd add chickpeas to it next time... they seem like they'd be a good fit.

Enjoy!