Vindaloo Curry

Goan Pork Vindaloo Curry

I do love a good, hot curry. However a Vindaloo curry from the local Indian Restaurant or takeaway would never be first choice as it simply is a hot curry. Heat a priority, flavour secondary.

Vindaloo originates from the Indian region of Goa. This region is heavily influenced by the Portuguese settlers. It also has a quite large Christian population meaning that pork, a meat rarely eaten in India, can be found on the menu.

So a traditional Vindaloo Curry is made with wine, vinegar and copious amounts of garlic. The name Vindaloo comes from the Portuguese language. ‘Vinho’ meaning wine and ‘alho’ meaning garlic. Quite a few people think that the ‘aloo’ in Vindaloo means potato. Strangely enough many British Indian Restaurants do put potato in there Vindaloo, just to confuse things further!

Vindaloo Curry, How Hot Can You Go?

My recipe for Vindaloo is spicy but no where near as spicy as the dish you would get in a British Indian Restaurant.

If you want more heat it’s quite easy to adapt the recipe. Either add some chilli powder when you fry the masala off. Or add more fresh chillies. Birdseye chillies are great in this dish as are the thin Thai chillies which I believe are a type of cayenne. The other option is to add some chilli pickle towards the end. Naga Pickle, of course, is always going to add plenty of heat!

On the other hand you may fancy the sound of this dish but you’re not a fan of hot curries. If that’s the case then just add however much or little fresh chillies as you want.

But I Like Aloo In My Vindaloo?

If that’s the case then add some! Simply boil a few cubed potatoes so they’re not quite cooked and then throw them in your Vindaloo for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking.

If you like the look of this recipe you might want to check out the recipe for Lamb Madras

‘Ome Made Goan Pork Vindaloo

‘Ome

A rich, spicy Goan Pork Vindaloo based on a traditional recipe but with a touch of British Indian Restaurant influence. This is a far superior dish than you would find in most British restaurants and takeaways though!

No ratings yet

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 hours hrs

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Indian

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 kg diced pork shoulder slightly less than 1’’ cubed

Marinade

• 1 tsp salt
• 6 garlic cloves finely chopped or grated or 5-6 tsp garlic paste
• 6 red chillies finely chopped use less or more to taste and depending on the variety. 6 birds eye chillies will be hotter than 6 snub chillies for instance. I used 6 birds eye chillies
• 200 ml red wine plus a glass for yourself!
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar

Curry

• 4 tbsp oil
• 12 whole fresh curry leaves optional
• 1 stick of cassia or cinnamon
• 1 whole star anise
• 2 tsp black mustard seeds
• 3 large onions finely chopped or blitzed in a blender/food processor for a more restaurant style
• 6 cloves garlic finely chopped grated or blitzed in a grinder
• 3 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 2 tbsp mild curry Masala I used ‘Ome Made B.I.R Curry Masala, obviously!
• 3 tbsp tomato puree added to 800ml hot water
• 2 tsp of tamarind paste/concentrate or 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp sugar I used jaggary but any will do but the darker sugars work the best
• 1 tbsp Garam Masala again I used ‘Ome Made, other brands are available
• 1 handful chopped fresh coriander
• 3 medium tomatoes roughly chopped
• 6 red chillies sliced Again add more if you like heat, less if you don’t. I used 8 birdseye chillies, a few sliced and a few whole so they could be dished up to the ones that like extra heat
• 1 tsp salt or to taste

Instructions

 

Marinate The Pork

• Rub the salt in to the meat followed by the garlic and chillies. Add the wine and vinegar, give a stir, cover and refrigerate. Leave to marinate for at least 3 hours but overnight is better.

Cooking The Curry

• Heat the oil in a kadai or heavy bottomed pan.
• Add the whole spices (curry leaves, mustard seeds, star anise and cassia) careful as they may splutter if the oil is too hot.
  
• Once the spices are sizzling and mustard seeds popping add the onion and salt. Continue to cook on a gentle heat for 15 minutes or so.
  
• Add the garlic and fry for another couple of minutes.
• Add the Kashmiri chilli powder and stir in, continue to fry until the mixture is a nice deep red colour. Add a splash of water if it starts to stick.
• Add the curry Masala and continue to fry for a couple minutes. If it starts to stick add a little of the tomato puree/water mix.
  
• Add half of the tomato puree and water mix. Turn the heat up and reduce back down to a thick paste.
  
• Add the rest of the tomato puree/water mix and continue to reduce until you have a nice thick sauce.
• Add the pork and the marinade and stir through.
  
• Turn the pan down to the lowest you can. It wants to be barely a simmer.
• Cook for around 2.5 hours after which time the sauce should be nice and thick.
  
• Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for another 30 minutes. If the sauce is too thick for your liking just loosen with a little hot water.
  
• Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed.
• Serve with rice and Indian bread
  

Notes

This recipe takes a more traditional recipe but I have used the tomato puree in water method which gives the dish a nice rich sauce. The traditional method is slightly thinner.

As far as heat goes this is a nice spicy dish but nowhere near as hot as you would get in an Indian restaurant. It also relies on fresh chillies for the heat. If you like it hot I would suggest adding a couple of teaspoons of chilli powder with your curry Masala or you could up the fresh chillies or add a few teaspoons of Naga pickle!

Once you have added your meat this could be cooked covered in the oven on a moderate heat or you could put it in a slow cooker.

If you are worried about using pork shoulder because of the fat, don’t. with the slow cooking all the fat renders down and gives you a lovely rich sauce and it shouldn’t be swimming in oil. You could of course use another cut such a s loin of fillet but cut down on the cooking time. This recipe will also work with chicken thigh but again cut down on the cooking time.

Keyword goan, Indian, pork, Vindaloo

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!