Lamb Vindaloo

There was no time for a better photo - it smelled too good!

The lamb vindaloo I made this week sort of fell into my lap (not literally, thankfully).  I had been thinking for a while about making something with the local lamb available at the farmer's market and when we went to visit this slick talking little seven year old charmed me into trying all of his family's jalapeno sausage and chutneys, then sold me a pound of lamb stew meat.  He concentrated so hard as he counted out my change.

So I had some lamb, but nothing to do with it when I came across this recipe for Chicken Vindaloo at Scarpetta Dolcetto.  The recipe was actually from  Madhur Jaffrey who has written several Indian cookbooks that I have considered buying, but I wanted to try a few recipes first.  The recipe mentioned that it would be more traditionally made with goat or lamb and a lightbulb went on.

This recipe was soooo good.  The lamb really held up to the mustard and other assertive flavors.  I'm sure that chicken would have been fine, but I think that the flavor of the chicken would disappear under the sauce.  The only downside of the lamb is that it required about an hour of simmering to become nice and tender.  But it was completely worth the wait!