Phall (The Hottest Curry of All!)

Baz's Note:

This is an awesome curry for those who like their curries very hot indeed. It's from Pat Chapman's excellent "Curry Club" recipe book and is one of my favourites. Serve it with plain or pullao rice (and with a yoghurt raita, in case it is too hot!) Update note re some reviews: Chef #379274 from New Orleans, Indian cooking usually uses birdseye chilies, fresh or dried - I usually use dried as they store really well. Re the salt comment - I'm not sure why you'd think lack of salt in a recipe means it's an oversight? You don't need added salt in most Indian recipes as it's salty enough with the salt that's in most ingredients anyway (ketchup, tinned tomatoes etc). Of course feel free to add salt if you like things salty - and want to harden your arteries and kill the flavour!: ) Chef johnthetrevor, this is an authentic Indian recipe with a beautiful flavour - it's not just about the hotness - if you prefer using commercilly bought vindaloo paste, don't bother with this recipe, just follow the instructions on your jar of paste! :)

• Total Time: 1 hrs 40 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 ½ lbs meat or 1 ½ lbs poultry , chopped into 1 inch cubes
• 1 large onion , finely chopped
• 8 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 1 ounce fresh ginger , finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons ghee or 3 tablespoons oil
• 14 ounces canned tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 12 dried chilies (birdseye work well) or 12 fresh chili peppers (birdseye work well)

Spices

• 1 teaspoon cumin , ground
• 1 teaspoon coriander , ground
• 3 teaspoons chili powder (dried, ground chiles such as cayenne)
• 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (optional)
• 1 teaspoon garam masala

Directions:

1. Fry the meat in a pan in half the ghee or oil, until sealed (5 to 10 minutes). Set aside.
2. Fry the onion, garlic and ginger until golden in remaining ghee or oil.
3. Mix the spices with a little water to make a paste.
4. Add to the onion mixture and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Add the tomato (tinned, ketchup and puree) and chilies.
6. Cook for a further 10 minutes.
7. Combine the meat and all ingredients in a casserole dish and cook in a pre-heated oven at 400 deg F, Gas 6 for 45 to 60 minutes. (Alternatively, add meat back to the pan with the mixture and cook covered on low heat for an hour. At this stage you can also just throw it all into the slow cooker if you prefer.).

Reviews

[Devora]

The spice combination is perfect, exactly what I was looking for. I used 6 habanero peppers, which was just about right for us, and 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek instead of the leaves. Just wanted to point out that you really can use any kind of meat or poultry and it'll be great -- I poured the sauce over a brisket and baked it covered for 3 hours and it was amazing.

[Bad Boy]

This was sensational! I used dried chillies (15 of them!) and it nearly blew my head off, but still had a magnificent rich flavour. Definitely don't serve it to people who can't take hot foods, but if you like your food hot, then this is the one!

[Chef #379274]

For a dish that is known mainly for its heat level, i would have hoped for more specifics on how to spice it. To say "12 chilli peppers" could mean jalepenos, or habeneros, or any number of different peppers. Having no idea which to go with, i used half serranos and half habaneros. Heat seems to be OK, but is it what phall is supposed to be? Also, no salt? None? It may be what is intended but when I see a recipe with no salt I have to question if it was an oversight.