Lamb Vindaloo (kickass)

This was a great recipe that Sasha and I did last night. It shows up in the top Google searches for "lamb vindaloo" but I took it specifically from here. We did marinate it for 24 hours prior to cooking and though I'm not sure that's necessary, it turned out so well that I wouldn't mess with success when trying this again.

Ingredients

1. Lamb cubed 1" to 1½": 2 Pounds
Select lean sirloin

Marinate
1. Mustard oil: ¼ cup (this was fairly easy to find - I went to Sparrow Market in Kerrytown; Ann Arbor, MI)
Mustard oil is used for its pungency. You may substitute it with Canola oil
2. Red Wine Vinegar: ¼ cup
3. Tamarind pulp: 2 Tablespoons (this was a little harder to find, Sasha eventually found it at Jerusalem Market on Plymouth Rd, the same place we got our lamb)
4. Salt: 1 teaspoon
5. Minced Garlic: ¼ Cup This not a mistake. You need one whole garlic bulb containing about 10 cloves
6. Finely chopped fresh ginger: 1 Inch
7. Serrano (chopped): 2
Remove seeds and white membrane to reduce heat for your taste.
8. Curry Powder Standard Onset Punjabi: 1½ Tablespoon
Use one to 2 Tablespoons depending on your taste
9. Garam Masala Standard Frying Punjabi: ¾ Tablespoon
Use 2 to 3 teaspoons (for both of these we just used the Curry Powder and Garam Masala that I had in my spice cabinet)
10. Hot mustard powder: 1 teaspoon
11. Lal Mirch (Ground Hot Cayenne): 2 teaspoons
12. Degi Mirch (Paprika): 2 teaspoons

Cooking
1. Ghee: ¼ Cup (this is just clarified butter, you can make your own or buy it at the store - just about any "ethnic foods section" will have it; it comes in a little glass jar)
2. Finely chopped onion (Preferably ground): 2 Cups
3. Water: 6 Tablespoons
4. Brown sugar: ½ teaspoon (we didn't even use this)

Method

Marinate

1. Combine all the marinate ingredients in a stainless steel or glass bowl.
2. Stab each piece of lamb cube with a sharp pointed knife once or twice. This helps with marinate to penetrate deeper.
3. Add the lamb to marinate
4. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 12 hours. It is important to cover to prevent the other foods from gathering odors from the marinate.

Cooking

1. Remove Lamb from the marinate. The surface of lamb should have almost no marinate. Save marinate mixture, set aside.
2. Heat Ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Add marinated lamb. Brown lamb on medium to high heat, about 8 minutes. Remove browned pieces and set aside
3. Add Onions. Fry till onions are almost brown. 5 minutes
3. Add saved marinate mixture. Be careful during this step. Keep your eyes away from the pan. Cooking this mixture will irritate your eyes. Turn the heat on low to medium, and walk away to avoid the initial fumes for first 2 minutes. After that stir and fry to make a nice paste.
4. Add lamb and water. Bring to a near boil when the bubbles start to rise to top. You do not want to cook lamb at high temperature to prevent it from getting tough. Turn down heat.
5. Cover. Simmer on low to medium heat till lamb is tender. About 20 minutes
6. Stir in sugar to cut the sourness.