Skip to Content

Authentic Goan Pork Vindaloo

Sharing is caring!

This is authentic Goan pork vindaloo just like you find in Goa!

If you like a good Goan pork vindaloo curry, you’ve come to the right place. This is a recipe I learned while researching for one of my books in Goa. The recipe tastes just like those you find at the best Goan restaurants.

This Goan pork vindaloo is delicious served with plain or flavoured Basmati rice, homemade naans or chapatis, a good chutney or two and don’t forget those samosas and dal!

Goan pork vindaloo curry

An authentic Goan pork vindaloo curry like this simply has to be tried.

About this pork vindaloo recipe

I’ve been lucky to have met and learned from so many talented chefs over the years. It’s been a dream come true for me. To be able to learn such amazing recipes like this vindaloo recipe has has made food blogging and writing my books more fun. 

I learned this pork vindaloo recipe while traveling through Goa. There I was able to work my way into a few kitchens and watched the chefs prepare vindaloo curries just like this from scratch. This is the real deal. The only negative is that your Goan pork vindaloo will be just as good if not better than you find in Goa!

Being able to recreate a famous curry like this at home tends to make trying it there not nearly as amazing.

Is this Goan pork vindaloo like those you find at British curry houses?

No! This is a completely different curry. It’s spicy but nothing like the mouth explosion you might expect at a curry house.

The reason for this is simple. British curry house chefs knew that pork vindaloo was spicy so they recreated a dish that was super hot and called it vindaloo. As most Indian restaurants are muslim owned, other proteins were substituted for the pork. 

With this recipe, you will love all the different flavours of the spices. There are a lot of them and no spice overpowers the others. It’s like a beautiful medley of spice that is very difficult to beat.

What is the history of Goan pork vindaloo?

Goa was the birthplace of pork vindaloo curry. In the 15th century, the Portuguese controlled what is now Goa and brought with them their Portuguese recipes and ingredients from the new world – the Americas. 

 The name vindaloo is believed to have come from the Portuguese dish carne de vinho e albos or meat with wine and garlic. The Goans couldn’t pronounce vinho e albos and ended up calling it vindaloo. The name stuck.

One thing the Goans changed when making vinho e albos or vindaloo was that they added a lot of chillies. They loved spicy chillies which had only recently made their way to the Indian subcontinent via the Portuguese.

Don’t vindaloo curries have potatoes in them?

Yes and no. Curry house style vindaloos often have potatoes added to the sauce. This is due to a misunderstanding of the name vindaloo.

In Hindi and Urdu, ‘aloo’ means potato. So the early curry house chefs thought that the ‘aloo’ part of ‘vindaloo’ surely meant ‘potato’. So they are now often added to curry house style vindaloo curries.

Working ahead.

Like many curries, Goan pork vindaloo is a great recipe if you want to work ahead. You can prepare the vindaloo spice blend a few days ahead of cooking the curry if more convenient.

For that matter, you could also cook the whole curry a few days ahead of serving. Just like most curries, Goan pork vindaloo actually gets better as it sits in the fridge. The flavours develop and turn great into amazing.

How long can you keep this curry in the fridge?

Of course this will be down to the freshness of the meat and other ingredients you use but generally, you should be able to store this in the fridge for at least three day.

Can you freeze Goan pork vindaloo?

You sure can! You can freeze this vindaloo in an air-tight container or freezer bag for up to 6 months.

How do you reheat pork vindaloo?

You can heat it up in a large pan or wok over a medium high heat. If it’s more convenient, you could also just heat it up in the microwave.

Step by step photographs.

 

Roasting spices

Roast your spices until warm to the touch and fragrant.

Ground spices

Grind roasted spices to a powder.

vindaloo curry paste

Blend the spices with the other marinade ingredients to make the vindaloo paste.

meat marinating.

Marinating the meat. This can be done for as little as 30 minutes but longer is better.

frying garlic slivers

Fry your garlic in oil.

Toasted garlic slivers

The fried garlic should look about like this. You can use some in the curry and a little as a garnish,

Frying mustard seeds and curry leaves

Now infuse the mustard seeds and curry leaves in the oil.

The base vindaloo sauce

Add the chopped onion and fry until soft and translucent. Then add the tomatoes and some chilli powder.

simmering vindaloo

Cover with water and simmer for about an hour or until the pork is nice and tender.

vindaloo sauce

Taste and adjust. I ended up adding a good generous tablespoon more chilli powder.

 

Yield: 4 - 6

Authentic Goan Pork Vindaloo Curry

Goan pork vindaloo curry

For best results, allow the pork to soak up the marinade for 48 hours.

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 800g pork leg cut into bit sized pieces
  • 2 - 3 tablespoons ghee, coconut or rapeseed (canola) oil
  • 1 head of garlic – cloves cut into slivers
  • 1 teaspoon brown or black mustard seeds
  • 10 fresh curry leaves
  • 2 onions – finely chopped
  • 3 tomatoes – finely chopped (about 400g)
  • 1 teaspoon chilli powder (more or less to taste)
  • 2 Indian bay leaves (optional)
  • Juice of one lime or more vinegar to taste
  • FOR THE VINDAlOO MARINADE
  • 3 dried red chillies
  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • 1 teaspoon black cardamom seeds
  • 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
  • 5 cloves
  • 1 inch cassia bark stick
  • 10 black peppercorns
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 4 green chillies – finely chopped
  • 75ml red wine vinegar (plus more if needed)
  • 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon tamarind paste (or another two tablespoon of vinegar)
  • 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste

Instructions

  1. Start with the marinade.
  2. Place all the spices except the turmeric in a dry frying pan over medium heat and roast until they become fragrant and warm to the touch but are not yet smoking.
  3. Transfer to a plate to cool slightly and then pour the spices in a food processor with the turmeric and blend to a fine powder. You could also use a pestle and mortar but that's a lot more work.
  4. Add the chillies, vinegar, tamarind paste, brown sugar, garlic and ginger and blend to a smooth vindaloo paste.
  5. Put the pork in a large bowl with the marinade and stir well to combine.
  6. Leave the pork to marinate for eight to 48 hours. The longer the better. No time for that? No worries. Marinate as long as you can. It will still be delicious.
  7. To finish
  8. When ready to cook, heat the ghee or oil in a saucepan, large frying pan or wok over low heat.
  9. Add the garlic slivers and allow to cook gently for about 10 minutes. It is important not to burn the garlic so watch carefully. The garlic should be soft and only lightly browned as photographed above.
  10. Remove the garlic from the saucepan and set aside.
  11. Using the same ghee/oil, heat you pan over medium high heat until the oil is beginning to shimmer.
  12. Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle, stir in the curry leaves. Fry for about 15 seconds until the curry leaves are very fragrant and then toss in the chopped onions.
  13. Fry for about 5 minutes over medium high heat until the onions are soft and translucent. Sprinkle a little salt over the onions. This will help release moisture from them.
  14. Add the chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, bay leaves and the pork with its marinade to the pan and then pour in just enough water to cover.
  15. Leave to simmer for about an hour until the pork is very tender. You may need to add a drop more water while simmering.
  16. When the meat is tender, the sauce should taste amazing. Adjust spicing adding more salt if needed and more chilli powder if you want.
  17. Stir in the cooked garlic.
  18. squeeze the lime juice over the top and serve.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 766Total Fat: 49gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 27gCholesterol: 159mgSodium: 1088mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 7gSugar: 18gProtein: 47g

Did you like this recipe?

Please join me on Facebook where I share all my latest recipes and videos. Just click that Facebook icon on the left and let's get to know each other!

Authentic Goan curry

Dig in!

Michael

Sunday 30th of July 2023

Delish!

I made up a large quantity with 2kg of pork. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it and put batches in the freezer.

Dan Toombs

Friday 11th of August 2023

That’s great and fantastic you now have loads in the freezer. Thanks Dan

Martin

Tuesday 9th of May 2023

Is that 2tbs of garlic and 2tbs of ginger pastes - or 2tbs of mixed?

Dan Toombs

Wednesday 10th of May 2023

2 tbs of mixed Thanks Dan

Nejat

Sunday 22nd of January 2023

I made this recipe with double the amount of pork because I batch cook . I just doubled up on all the ingredients and swapped the red wine vinegar with cider vinegar and added a tablespoon of smoked paprika and a tablespoon of Kashmiri chilli powder which i ground from pods. Marination was 24 hours not 48 as recommended.but will do next time. I can honestly say this curry is up there ! Next to my favourite Sri lankan curry ! Truly a masterpiece! Dan is a genius 🙏

Dan Toombs

Monday 23rd of January 2023

Thanks very much, glad it all worked for you. Dan

Christina Harcar

Saturday 5th of November 2022

I made this for the first time and it was amazing. I served it with raita and coconut poori (and basmati rice and vegetable sides, of course) to help balance the heat for my palate (I have mostly eaten Kashmiri or Punjabi dishes before this.) Thank you!

Dan Toombs

Sunday 13th of November 2022

Great to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Nice choice of sides too. Thanks very much. Dan

Rosie

Saturday 24th of September 2022

Brilliant recipe thank you so much! I cooked mine in the slow cooker.

Dan Toombs

Friday 30th of September 2022

Great to hear, thank you for letting me know. Dan

Skip to Recipe

Sharing is Caring

Help spread the word. You're awesome for doing it!