Fusing the Wild Vindaloo
“Of course! Lager! The only thing that can kill a Vindaloo!”
– Dave Lister, Red Dwarf
We can’t help it. Someone mentions Indian food, and soon enough someone mentions vindaloo, and the next thing you know, we’re off on tangents involving curry monsters from outer space. Silly DNA modifiers, acting up again.
But, where the vindaloo mutations on board the good ship Red Dwarf are quite dangerous and must be dealt with (Leopard Lager into the beast’s maw generally does the trick), here on Earth, and at Casa Belly Timber, we find the notion of vindaloo mutations quite intriguing and potentially delicious.
And so, even though we’ve been horrifically busy of late, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join this month’s From my Rasoi event over at Meena’s Hooked on Heat, and create a bit of Indian fusion of our own.
This month’s theme: Pick a favorite international dish and give it an Indian flavor. Now we mulled this over a bit, pondering pasta, contemplating enchiladas, but in the end we agreed that there was nothing we wanted to do more than tame a wild vindaloo and turn it into the perfect Red Dwarf party food, because if a bunch of scifi geeks like us are going to get together to watch episodes of our favorite British science fiction comedy, the last thing we should do is order our pizza from Domino’s.
That’s right, pizza! Delicious, steeped in the flavors of India, lamb vindaloo pizza. Or, as Chopper calls it, because he just can’t help himself…
Lamb Vindaloo Naanizza
(makes two naanizzas that can be cut into 8 slices each)
Ingredients
- 1 recipe of Chopper’s Pizza Dough*
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless lamb loin chops, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/2 cup vindaloo pizza sauce (see below)
- 1/2 cup frozen green peas
- 6 crimini mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 large red onion, sliced
- 12 ounce kasseri cheese, grated
(*Okay, okay, so we spaced yogurt at the store and made pizza dough instead of naan and still Chopper can’t resist the word play. It’s a curse, I tell you.)
For the vindaloo sauce
(Spice blend based on pork vindaloo spice paste, Indian Home Cooking
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 10 whole dried red chiles
- 1/2″ cinnamon stick
- 8 whole cloves
- 6 green cardamom pods
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 6 garlic cloves, minced and mashed into a paste
- 2″ piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 medium can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1/2 cup red wine
- Salt to taste
Sauce method
- Toast the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, and black peppercorns in a dry sauté pan (see our post on
homemade curry paste for spice toasting details.) - When spices are aromatic, place them in a grinder along with the chiles and allow them to cool. Once cool, grind into a fine powder.
- Stir spice powder together with the garlic, ginger, turmeric, and vinegar.
- Drain tomatoes and crush, then place them in a small saucepan along with the tomato paste, and place over medium heat.
- When the pan contents start to bubble, stir tomatoes and paste together with a whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Add spice paste to the pan and continue to stir. Then add the red wine.
- Season to taste with salt.
Naanizza method
- Preheat your oven to 400 F.
- Roll out the dough creating an oblong shape that’s about 1/4″ thick, and spread olive oil on one side, as well as a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
- Place the oiled side down on either a heated grill or griddle, and oil the other side.
- Allow the dough to cook until golden brown, then flip and repeat.
- Once the dough is browned, move it to a sheet pan.
- Spread a thick coating of the sauce over the surface, then sprinkle on a generous layer of kasseri cheese.
- Layer on the lamb, onions, mushrooms, and peas, then cover with the remaining cheese.
- Place the “naanizzas” in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cheese is thoroughly melted and the lamb is caramelized.
Serve with lager and a DVD. We recommend the Red Dwarf Series 4 DVD
March 31st, 2006 at 3:55 pm
I’m there for the entire naanizza except for the peas. That’s just wrong! (and Cat would agree) Not to mention that then it might bave to be called peazza. Or naanpeazza…which was a monster from the third season, wasn’t it? LOL
btw, Domino’s? You know they are evil, right?
April 1st, 2006 at 4:31 pm
It’s almost fresh pea time here. (Hurry, hurry.)
So. Anyway. Cranky’s out getting a cuppa yesterday and I’m reading your blog. I call him on his cell and say “Go to the video store. Ask for Red Dwarf.”
He does.
The clerks say, “Oh, boo. We don’t carry it.”
So we watched Galaxy Quest again.
Isn’t it fun to mess with pizza? Got a sack of TJ’s ‘za dough in the fridge to try for the first time. I’m thinkin’ purple potatoes, shredded cabbage, something garlicky, and something whitish (cheese, thick yogurt…).
April 3rd, 2006 at 2:08 pm
Oh, my ghosht. This is sounding veddy, veddy, veddy, veddy, veddy, veddy tasty indeed. I will be having to try it.
Pizza Vindaloo,
Good for me and you.
But oh, the pain it causes me
When I use the loo.
April 3rd, 2006 at 5:34 pm
I’m gonna to eat you, little pizza! That is just phenomenal! And I luuuuuurve Red Dwarf - I used to watch it over & over again in UK and I still have the book! Oh nostalgia …
April 3rd, 2006 at 9:42 pm
Kichenmage: Chopper insisted on the peas. They were really quite good. Surprisingly good, considering I don’t like peas. Naanpeazza? Wasn’t he Greedo’s off-screen sidekick?
Also: Yes, of course Domino’s is evil. Try convincing a bunch of cheap/hungry scifi gamer geeks of that, though. (Ahem, I say that as a sometime scifi gamer geek. One who has uttered many a cry of horror when a party host has picked up the phone to order up velveeta-on-cardboard.)
CC: cabbage and potatoes on pizza? Is this a new British Pub Pizza thing? Shall we try one with eels or tripe next?
BTW, one should always watch Galaxy Quest again. And again. And again. And again.
Elisson, what a veddy veddy loverly pome. All pizzas should have pomes, me thinks.
MM: Would you believe that one of Chopper’s and my very first flirty moments after we’d just met involved quoting* Red Dwarf at each other. Gads, we’re such geeks.
(*Everywhere I look reminds me of food. Look at these books: Charles Lamb, Herman Wok, the complete works of Sir Francis Bacon, Eric Van Lustbader…)
April 4th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
curry monsters from outer space… hahaha
April 7th, 2006 at 6:58 am
10 dried chilis? You sure need a beer to go with it to put out the fire. My husband will love this, him a pizza AND a vindaloo fan. I remember once we had a vindaloo in a restaurant in Yorkshire, by the second mouthful, big drops of sweat started to form on his brow, but he courageously finished it. Two years later, we go back and he orders a vindaloo: the waiter recognized him. I am sure he would love your kitchen Mrs D.
April 10th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
I love Red Dwarf! My Alpha-geek of a husband got me into it…
April 10th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
Gracianne — it actually wasn’t all that hot. The chiles were just plain ol’ jalapeños, so not terribly big or terribly hot. Now, try this with ten habaneras. Heh. Oh, the idea of chowing vindaloo in Yorkshire… Chopper would be all over that. Me too!
EEEP: Updated to add: Chopper corrects me. They were Thai chiles. That’s what I get for not paying attention until the food’s on the table! Heh.
June 3rd, 2006 at 9:26 pm
Thanks for giving credit to the cookbook and the recipe.
very generous and honest of you.
Will have to try and make your recipe.. so I can give you credit somewhere in the future…
it is nice to see my baby, the cookbook, find itself recognized in this way.
Best,
Suvir Saran
chef@suvir.com