Indian Curry: Frying spices vs marinating the meat in them I'm on a bit of a quest to make a great lamb vindaloo, and through my research I've seen two pieces of advice (often given together) that I can't quite reconcile.  First is to marinate the meat in the spices for up to a day beforehand.

The second is that when making any curry, you should toast the spices separately first and then add the meat afterwards to brown it.  It seems impossible to do both!

Any recommendations?  My current thought is to toast and grind the whole spices, then marinate the meat with the powder.  Then fry the onions and brown the meat from there.

Many thanks
For Vindaloo, it is not customary (nor necessary) to fry the spices before marinating.

Curries vary quite a bit within and across parts of India. Many do not require the roasting of spices before addition.