Ingredients
Paste
Curry
Method
- Blend all the paste ingredients to a smooth paste.
- Coat the meat with half the paste and salt and marinate for at least 2 hours.
- Heat oil and cook the onions until deep golden. Add the remaining paste and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the meat and sear for 5 minutes, then add water, cover and simmer until tender: about 1 hour for pork, 30 minutes for chicken.
- It tastes even better the next day.
Goan vindaloo is tangy and garlicky, not just hot. The name comes from the Portuguese “vinha d’alhos”, meat in wine and garlic.
The spices that matter
Used for the rich red colour of tandoori dishes, rogan josh, butter chicken and many restaurant-style curries without making them very hot.
No kashmiri chilli? Sweet or smoked paprika is the easiest swap for colour. Byadgi chilli, from Karnataka, is similar.
The most common first spice in a tadka: crackle the seeds in hot oil or ghee before adding onions, dal or vegetables. Roasted and ground, it goes int…
No cumin? Caraway or shahi jeera are the closest whole-seed swaps. For ground cumin, use a little extra ground coriander with a pinch of chilli.
Fried whole with other spices for pulao, biryani and meat dishes, and ground into garam masala.
No cloves? A pinch of allspice is the closest swap.
A small piece goes into pulao, biryani, meat curries and garam masala.
No cinnamon and cassia? Cassia and true cinnamon can replace each other; use a little less cassia.
Key to rasam, pepper chicken, Chettinad dishes and garam masala. Before chillies reached India, pepper was the main source of heat.
No black pepper? White pepper or a little chilli powder.
Nice to have
Salt, oil or ghee, onions, ginger, garlic and fresh herbs are assumed. See how to make a tadka for the order to add whole spices.
Dishes with similar spices
Frequently asked questions
How long does goan vindaloo take to make?
About 20 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook (plus soaking or marinating time where noted).
What spices are in goan vindaloo?
The essentials are kashmiri chilli, cumin, cloves, cinnamon and cassia, black pepper. Nice to have: turmeric.
Tips from travellers
Use Goan vindaloo differently at home? Share your tip. The first good one goes right here.