Beef Vindaloo

Slightly adappted from Rick Stein's India


750g boneless shin of beef, cut into 3cm-thick medallions . 

For the marinade 
5cm piece of cinnamon stick 
1 tsp black peppercorns 
1 tsp cloves 
1 tsp cumin seeds 
Seeds from 10 green cardamoms 
1 medium onion, roughly chopped 
40g/8 cloves garlic, peeled 25g/5cm ginger, roughly chopped 
2 tbsp Tamarind liquid 
1½ tsp salt 
1 tsp sugar 
2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder (check the spiciness of the powder, if hot use paprika and chilli powder)
½ tsp turmeric 
5 tbsp white wine vinegar 

2 tbsp (30g) ghee or vegetable oil 
1 medium onion, chopped 
3 medium, ripe tomatoes, sliced 
3 fresh green chillies, halved lengthways, seeds removed 
100ml water 

For the marinade, grind the cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves, cumin seeds and cardamom to a powder. 
Put the onion, garlic, ginger, tamarind, salt, sugar, chilli powder, turmeric and vinegar and all the ground spices into a mini food processor and blend together to a paste. 
Mix the beef and the paste together in a large bowl, coating the beef well. Cover the bowl and transfer to the fridge for 12 hours. 

To cook the vindaloo, heat the ghee in a large, sturdy pan or casserole over a medium heat. 
Add the onion and fry for 10 minutes until golden. 
Increase the heat to high, add the beef and all its marinade paste and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
Stir in the tomatoes, green chillies and water, cover with a lid and cook for around 2 hours until the meat is tender, checking every so often that it’s not sticking or becoming dry, in which case add a splash of water. 
If using pressure cooker, cook for at least 1 hour!

Serve the beef vindaloo immediately.