Beef mince in vindaloo sauce

Ground meat is extremely versatile. You can cook them in different sauces, make pies, cutlets, meat balls and the possibilities are endless. Minced meat with pau (bread) or pulao is much looked forward to meal at home. We used to eat a lot of ground beef, however, we have started cutting down on our red meat consumption in the recent past. Since we bought ground beef after a long time, I didn't want to cook it in my regular style. After skimming through many sites, I found today's recipe on a facebook page dedicated to East Indian recipes. I love this FB page as it has some awesome collection of authentic East Indian fare.

The original recipe calls for more spices, and onions. I have made quite a few changes to the original recipe by adding and subtracting ingredients and introducing new ones too. I guess, that's a trick any cook worth their salt learns over time. The dish looks deliciously red, and goes well with pau or bread rolls.

Ingredients:

1. Beef mince (ground beef) - 1/2 kg
2. Onions - 1/2 kg
3. Oil - as required
4. Tomato ketchup - 2 tbsp
5. Potatoes - 2 nos (optional)

Vindaloo masala: * See notes

1. Kashmiri chilly - 8 nos
2. Cumin (jeera) - 1 tsp
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Garlic - 10 flakes
5. Ginger - 1 inch piece
6. Vinegar - 2 - 3 tbsp

Method:

1. Chop onions. Wash and drain the mince to remove excess water. Cut potatoes in two inch cubes.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add the onions and fry well. When the onions have started turning light brown add the vindaloo masala. Fry the masala well by stirring constantly for about a minute or two.
3. Add the minced meat, and potatoes, mix the contents of the pan well. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan.
4. Let it cook on slow flame till done. This should take about 20 minutes. Stir in the tomato ketchup a minute before you take the dish off the stove.

Notes:

1. You may use any ground meat, including mutton, chicken or pork. In case your using chicken mince I recommend using fewer chilies, and garlic flakes. Chicken meat is more delicate than red meat and hence should not be cooked with the same quantities of spices as used for red meat.
2. Vindaloo masala is required to be ground in vinegar. I recommend dry grinding the red chilly, turmeric and cumin first.  Then adding garlic and ginger with vinegar. This will ensure that you don't end up using too much vinegar for grinding.  Please use your discretion in using vinegar, as too much will wreck the dish. Adding a little water while grinding the masala is ok.
3. Adding water is optional, specially if you are not adding potatoes to the dish.