The Fiery Goan Pork Vindaloo

The Fiery Goan Pork Vindaloo

Pork Vindaloo is synonymous with Goan food, but how does it get its name? After doing some research its interesting to know, that vin is for the vinegar and the ahlo means garlic in Portuguese.

Some people say that it was Vindahlo, but since we know Aloo, as potatoes in India the dish was called Vindaloo. Anyway lets get down to the Pork Vindaloo Recipe.

Pork Vindaloo Main Ingredient:

1 Kg Pork
2 Big Onions
Salt as per taste

Pork Vindaloo Masala Ingredients:
Vindaloo masala ingredients
15 Kashmiri Chillies,
4 – 6 Garlic flakes,
1″ Ginger
2 Teaspoons of Jeera,
1 and a 1/2″ Haldi,
1″ piece of Cinnamon
3 – 6 Peppers
3 – 6 Cloves
Vinegar

Procedure:

First you need to wash the Pork pieces well, and then chop them up into nice bits.
Clean and chop the pork pieces
Once you dice the bits you need to dry the pieces of pork. You can dry them up using a cloth as well to absorb all the water.
Diced pork pieces
Then add some salt this should help dry the pieces even more.
Apply salt on the pork pieces
Now keep that aside and lets get the masala ready, grind the chillies into a powder, then add some vinegar not too much into it.
Add vinegar to the kashmiri chilly powder
Add all the ingredients of the vindaloo masala shown above and then grind all of it in the blender.
Grind the vindaloo masala in the chilly vinegar mixture
Once you have your masala ready you can add your masala to the pork pieces and mix it up well. Make sure all the pieces of meat are evenly mixed with the masala. Add a little vinegar to the meat, mix it up and store it overnight in the fridge.
Add masala to the pork pieces
Now you can chop the large onions to add to the Pork Vindaloo.
Chop the two large onions
Before you can add the onions to the dish you need to blend them in the mixer.
Grind the chopped onions
Add the blended onions, here its got a specific colour because we used the same liquidiser that was used for the vindaloo masala.
Add chopped and blended onions to the dish
Its time to transfer all the ingredients on to the stove, no need to add any water yet.
Transfer the pieces of meat and masala to a vessel
Now you need to add a few peppercorns, a little cinnamon and a few cloves to the dish as you fry the meat.
Add some spices and fry the pork
After a little while of frying add some water and let it cook on a slow flame.
Add water to the vindaloo mixture
Let the vindaloo simmer on a low fire as the meat soaks in the masala and gets cooked.
Cook the pork on a slow fire
You know the Vindaloo is ready when it turns the fiery red colour and the aroma will attract your neighbours 🙂
Delicious Pork Vindaloo
Remember, the Vindaloo always tastes better the next day as the meat gets properly marinated, its not really a very spicy dish but on the tangy side. The longer you store it the better it tastes just like a pickle! Pork Vindaloo reminds me of Christmas all over again!

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chandrima roy
8 years ago

This is the best pork vindaloo in the Internet !! Thank you.

Nita Dev
8 years ago

Is it possible to make it in a pressure cooker

Anonymous
Anonymous
9 years ago

Fiery pork Vindaloo was a total hit with my family
thanks for these lovely recipes
Michelle Pereira

Anonymous
Anonymous
9 years ago

Clyde, thank your Mum for being so generous with her recipes — they are great, always a success. A very good friend of mine told me to use Malt vinegar since Goan Vinegar is not easily available in Canada. She also told me that adding a shot/wine glass of Vodka gave it that extra punch. She suggested that I add my dark spices — cinnamon, cloves, and peppercorns towards the end as adding them early ruined the vibrant color of the vindaloo. Seems to work. Happy New Year. Love your Mum's recipes. Blessings….Lydia

rahuldoes
9 years ago

Respected Ma'am,

I have this question about washing. I have been washing only the fresh chicken that we get in India with all its blood and gore and feathers and that too in the wash area or bathroom. Never in the kitchen as it spreads contamination. (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/washing-food-does-it-promote-food-safety/washing-food)

What is your take on washing pork bought from well reputed shops?

I have always managed to ruin this dish of yours by my over-enthusiasm in adding massale. Let me be honest to your recipe, today, and will tell about the results soon.

Regards,

Ra.

Jacinta D'Souza
9 years ago

Hi Clyde, Do you have a recipe for the authentic goan pork sausages. I live in Mumbai and would like to preserve it in a jar than the guts. I would be grateful if you could post me the same.
Thanking you,
Jacinta D'Souza

Anonymous
Anonymous
9 years ago

It says above, grind the red chilies with vinegar and add all the ABOVE ingredients and blend.

thelma
10 years ago

"peppers" = "pepper corns"

Goodgenie4u
Goodgenie4u
10 years ago

A few comments make a good point about the addition of mustard. I checked my 1935 Chef book. The recipe called not for mustard seeds, but mustard oil. This recipe uses the pork fat that the pork has. I pork shoulder roast, trimmed of fat. The skin and it's fat I render about 2 tbsn because the flavour is important. I add virgin coconut oil if more oil is needed. BTW no coconut flavour. I stay away from genetically modified and refined vegetable oils. Never fry with virgin olive oil. Sometimes after the vindaloo is cooked, I infuse the coconut oil with mustard seeds at high heat and top the vindaloo.
If you also add fenugreek seeds, a typical curry, slightly bitter taste is added.

Goodgenie4u
Goodgenie4u
10 years ago

This recipe is authentic any added accents like mustard and fenugreek, fennel or nigella ( kalongi) are fusions or have their own name like bafat, indad,molee,curry,fugad,stew,sorptel adding just liver, thial. This knowledge is mostly diluted or lost as we live modern working women lives. I am a guy, 68, taught to cook when I was 16 and did it almost every other day since. Thanks to my grandmother who I lived with for 3 years and Isadore Coelho's CHEF cookery book, first published in 1935; 11 years before I was born.

My kids 37 girl and 33 boy born in Canada have only eaten our cooking till they left home. Then they reverted to Canadian food in their 20' . Last week my daughter made 5 kgs of my dryish mince and peas for 35 members of her sailing club. It was served on Pasta. The members had nevet ever seen this and begged her for the recipe. To out do her last week end my son a busy lawyer found the the time to make fried pomfrets, using red masam on one side and green on the other and served his Vietnamese wife and hr family. They know all about pomfrets, but the recipe blew them away

Just do it and do not pressure your kids to learn. Feed them with it. They will never find better food. When they are in their lste 30's they will surprise you. Remember, once a month, to give them your food to take away to keep them hooked!

V D'Souza
V D'Souza
7 years ago
Reply to  Goodgenie4u

dryish mince and peas
Can you please share your receipe. Thank you.

Anonymous
Anonymous
10 years ago

BHATT

INGREDIENTS

1 Coconut ground fine

250 gms Semolina

300 – 400 gms sugar

4 tbspn margarine (not ghee)

4 Eggs

¾ Cup Milk or a little more

1½ tsp baking powder

Few almonds for taste (grind along with the coconut)

Few Caraway seeds for flavour or rosewater

METHOD

Make a syrup of the sugar and add the ground coconut let it cook for a little while. Take off the fire and cool down then add the beaten eggs and margarine. Add the semolina, caraway seeds and baking powder. Keep for about 2 hours for semolina to soak in. Bake in a preheated oven at 325°C till done.

Michael Hoyland
Michael Hoyland
10 years ago

I cooked this recipe and it was very nice. I spent about 1 year in Goa about 35 years ago. I now live in Perth Western Australia. I still remember helping the village pull the fishing nets in from the beach and then sit and drink Coconut fenny with the fisherman. I have one question I really need answered so I can be sure I have your recipe correct. In the list of ingredients it says peppers but there are no peppers on the plate in the picture, there is only pepper corns. So, is this a mistake, or should I be adding red fresh chillies to increase the heat. It would be very much appreciated if you could answer as I am waiting to cook it again.

tarcisiovalente
10 years ago

Vindaloo = Vinha d'alhos, portuguese for a marinade based on vinegar and garlic, possibly the origin of this name

Sami
Sami
10 years ago

This weekend I made my first Goan Pork Vindaloo and it was a hit!
Thank you for creating this site and for sharing all these yummy Goan recipes. I am excited to try another one.
My suggestions, could you please add cooking time and exact quantities of ingredients? For example, on this recipe the amount of vinegar was not listed and also there was no listed cooking time.

Cathy L.
10 years ago

Clyde, congrats buddy! My pork is marinating right now .. tomorrow is the big day .. will decide if it is indeed worthy of ALL this adulation. This comment comes from deep in the heart of Pennsylvania.. unfortunately I won't be able to count on my neighbors coming across as they get excited with stuff like chicken pot pie with only a pinch of pepper. So please could you let me know how long it will take for pork to cook on a low flame – I am guessing about 45 minutes. I hope it will have a thick gravy… yearning for vindaloo. Will be in Goa soon to give in to my cravings. Who knows perhaps after Clyde's creations, I may never have to crave again!

Fay
Fay
11 years ago

Hi! this recipe has been an inspiration to try out other Goan recipes in my kitchen. Great job with the detailed step by step blog and keeping our Goan recipes alive! I was born, bred and still living in Africa but grew up with all these yummy dishes! Loving it that I can do the same for my family. Kudos!!

Renuca fernandes
11 years ago

Hi Clyde,
Thanks for the recipe. Deo bore koru….

Ren

Shiny A
Shiny A
11 years ago

Hello!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe.

Could you clarify how much vinegar should I use?

Christopher Wice
11 years ago

Thanks for the recipe.
I felt like a Vindaloo today it was so tasty.
I put everything except the onions in our big mortar and ground it with the pestle.
so nice.
Made it to celebrate the spring that has finally arrived here (in May) up in Toronto.

Paul Joseph
11 years ago

I'm going to try it right now…! C u later..!

Clyde
11 years ago

Add it to the dish, there is a little that you have to grind though

Anonymous
Anonymous
11 years ago

Hi Gautam and Clyde The vindaloo recipe i have from my grandmother calls for red chiilis, mustard, garlic,turmeric, zeera all ground in vinegar ,salt and sugar added to taste …it is very tasty and esp good for pork with a liitle fat. try it!! no ginger or onions .

saqer humaid
11 years ago

Hi u can get pork in spinneys.

Anonymous
Anonymous
11 years ago

Hi Clyde

Great recipes – have tried the fish curry and prawn and bhendi – excellent.

Going to try the Pork Vindaloo – just need to know if I should grind the cinnamon, cloves and pepper too should I just add it to the dish when it is cooking.

Thanks and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours.

Nirmala

Anonymous
Anonymous
11 years ago

Going to try this recipe this Christmas – just wondering, should the cinnamon, pepper corns and cloves be ground with the masala as well as adding some full to the dish when cooking? Please advise.

Thank you
Nirmala

Clyde
11 years ago

No oil, have responded in the comments above, as the pork fat melts, yummy yummy 😀

Clyde
11 years ago

@ June,

The quantity above is for 1 Kilo so, One and a half times more, yes 🙂

Anonymous
Anonymous
11 years ago

I would like to cook 5 pounds of Pork Vindaloo which is approx. 2 and 1/2 kgs. So do I just double up the ingredients for masala. Thanks. June

Anonymous
Anonymous
11 years ago

Hi..Thank You for such a wonderful recipe…but pls advise, don't u use any kind of oil in the whole recipe for frying or marinating ? Regds, Priya

Clyde
11 years ago

@ Alba,

we use brown vinegar, but any vinegar will do

Cheers

Anonymous
Anonymous
11 years ago

Hi

I live in France & I would like to know if we need any special vinegar to prepar all these Goan meals…
Thanks
Alba (France)

Anonymous
Anonymous
11 years ago

I will try your recipe this weekend. Looks very good and I can wait to taste it. I will let you know how it turns out. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

Kevin

Kunal D'Souza
12 years ago

Hi Clyde,
I've followed this recipe to the T, over 10-15 times, and it comes out just perfect. The taste brings back memories of my grandmother's vindaloo.
Thank you so much for sharing this and others. Much Appreciated.

Kunal (Sydney)

Anonymous
Anonymous
11 years ago

Thanks Clyde, we tried it for the first time and it turned out GREAT! The step-by-step details with the pics helped a lot 🙂

Clyde D'Souza 😉

Flower Power
12 years ago

i tried your version of Vindaloo and i hope that's the authentic one cuz it turned out delicious- absolutely lip smacking. i have some leftover marinated pork ready for the por but alas for some feni. Thanks for such a wonderful blog, keep up the good work and please don't ever disband it.

Sunil Sharma Adhikari.

Anonymous
Anonymous
12 years ago

Thank you Clyde and your mum for propogating the 'correct' Goan recipe for Pork Vindaloo. I relate to this as a Goan dish with portuguese influence for the vinha alhos in the name. It was of course adapted to use vinegar. It is basically a fiery red chilly dish with a little extra garlic and the tangy addition of vinegar. A little sugar is necessary to balance it or else it will be overly sour. But people if you are looking for the authentic Goan experience please stay away from coriander seeds and mustard seeds. It simply what you see on the Cast of Characters pic by Cldye. Sorry if you are Bengali and Anglo you are more than welcome to add anything you love to your pork curry. And for all those who are trying it for first time with questions, just follow the recipe the first time.. it cannot be wrong. And if doesnt taste as well keep it in the fridge for a day or two and eat it again. I promise you it gets better.
Regards to all .. vindaloo experimenters. Angela

Laeotekhun
Laeotekhun
12 years ago

I think the following:

1)The amount of vinegar, in the marinade, should be enough to make the whole thing (a little) more than moist.

2)For those of use who cannot access Goan vinegar then red (preferably) or white wine vinegar should be a suitable substitute.

I experienced my first vindaloo more than 50 years ago and the vinegar taste MUST be there but should NOT dominate!

So, the questions that I REALLY want Clyde to answer are regarding the quantities of vinegar (are my thoughts, above, correct or not?

Also,conversions from "1 and a 1/2" Haldi" (Turmeric) to the powdered variety.

What would be the equivalent if using a powder?

I, really, want to try this out BUT, I need a response, from Clyde, before I do!

Charles
Charles
12 years ago

Lots of requests for guidance on the amount of vinegar to be used but absolutely NO help given. Why? Is it a secret? My answer would be, use between 4 and 8 tablespoons of vinegar, dependent upon your own particular taste. If using a mild'ish vinegar, use closer to 8 (120ml). If you are using something with a bit of a kick to it, I would suggest starting with 4 (60ml) and adjusting things as you need to. Remember, you may not get it right first time around – the second and third times around are often much better.

PS – this recipe originally was made using red wine (as carne de vinha d'alhos or 'meat with wine and garlic') but the recipe was adapted fairly early on with the substitution of the wine by palm vinegar. Around the same time, kashmiri chillies were added for a bit of extra zing, plus cumin, mustard seeds (yes, mustard!)cloves, etc. to give the dish a native Goan feel.

SRG
SRG
12 years ago

Hi Clyde

Such a refreshing change to come across a website dedicated to Goan cuisine. Tried the pork vindaloo recipe today. I went overboard with the pepper so it was very spicy but otherwise a great dish. Thanks for posting and do keep up the good work!

Best
Simi

Clyde
12 years ago

@ deane

you blend the ginger….with the other masala ingredients

Clyde
12 years ago

@ dylan

no we don't really use toddy vinegar we use hycel/kalverts vinegar

Clyde
12 years ago

@ everyone thanking us

you guys are most welcome and we are happy that you enjoyed it

@ aseem

a pinch of salt or two, just relax and try it out, cooking is an art, even if i tell you the things in exact measure there are a lot of combinations that can avoid it from being perfect, nothing is perfect but it would still be tasty!

carmine dsouza
carmine dsouza
12 years ago

Hello clyde your website is amazing, really good recipes. im from bombay, presently living in uk, my husband is a chef here, he is goan and me a mangy. im gonna try the pork vindaloo tomorrow and will wait for my hubbys comments, yes he is a very good critic

Anonymous
Anonymous
12 years ago

Your site is amazing and the photos perfect. As a Portuguese who loves Indian food, I would like to add something. Vindaloo actually comes from the Portugueses expression "vinha d'alhos". Vinha comes from vinho (wine) and alhos (garlic). The d' is the abreviation of "de" which means "of". The native people could not pronounce this sound which only exhists in the Portuguese language and turned out to sound vindaloo. So, vindaloo is a marinade of wine, garlic, salt and just a touch of vinegar. I prefer not to add this. Just the wine is OK. Best wishes to all the indian food lovers.

Succour
Succour
12 years ago

Wonderful recipe, I have been searching for this taste for the past 15 yrs. This is the same way that my sis-in-law's mum makes. But since I wanted chicken, just substituted the meats. Ah & also dropped off all the red chilly seeds, since I have kids. We all loved it. Thank you for sharing.

trumatter
12 years ago

This is amazing, Clyde! Im hoping that's your website? I'm gonna try this and come and comment right back in here. Love whoever is cooking, she is simply making it look even more gorgeous and right from Goa!

Aseem Saxena
Aseem Saxena
12 years ago

Dear Clyde,

I am absolute neophyte but love cooking… Will be obliged if you could help me with the following:

1. Can you please specify how much vinegar in either cups / table spoon?

2. How much salt must we add to the pork to help in the drying process?

3. How much vinegar do we add when we grind the red chillies?

4. How much vinegar do we add to the meat latter?

5. How much water do we add while cooking the meat in cups / tbsp / tsp

Regards,

Aseem

Anonymous
Anonymous
13 years ago

Hey Clyde..

recently discovered your website… I'm originally from Bombay and now live in Hong Kong. My wife is half Goan and I love goan cuisine. Waiting for the weekend to try this recipe…I'm sure it'll turn out great…!!

my 2 cents on the name – Vinho is wine in portuguese not Vinegar!

Fernandes
Hong Kong

deepak menezes
deepak menezes
13 years ago

May God bless the cook for sharing these recipes. i have tried so far the sorpotel and the vindaloo and both have been highly successful. Thank you.

Marion
Marion
13 years ago

thanks Clyde…..