Name: Authentic Goan Pork Vindaloo Curry
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Goan Indian
Ingredients: 800g pork shoulder or cheek cut into bit sized pieces; 4 tbsp coconut or rapeseed (canola) oil; 1 head of garlic – cloves cut into slivers; 1 tsp brown or black mustard seeds; 20 fresh curry leaves; 2 onions – finely chopped; 3 tomatoes – finely chopped (about 400g); 1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder (more or less to taste); Juice of one lime or more vinegar to taste; FOR THE VINDALOO MARINADE; 3 dried red chillies; 1 tbsp cumin seeds; 1 tbsp coriander seeds; 1 tsp black cardamom seeds; 1 tsp fenugreek seeds; 5 cloves; 1 inch cinnamon stick; 10 black peppercorns; 2 Indian bay leaves (optional); 1/2 teaspoon turmeric; 4 green chillies – finely chopped; 75ml white 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

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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 my first cookbook 'The Curry Guy'. The recipe tastes just like those you find at the best Goan restaurants.

This 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!

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 pork vindaloo recipe 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 dining 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, such as lamb, chicken and beef.

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 (or vinegar) 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 the 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.

Which cut of pork should you use?

In Goa, pork shoulder was the cut of choice at the places I visited. It's a delicious, fatty cut of meat so it has a lot of flavour.

In this recipe, I use pork cheeks. I love pork cheeks for their flavour. This is a tender and juicy cut that takes a little longer to cook than shoulder but it becomes so melt in the mouth tender when you stew it slowly.

Either shoulder or cheek will do fine for this recipe.

How do I make this curry more/less spicy?

The hot spiciness comes from the chilli powder, whole dried chillies and green chillies. If you are at all concerned about the spicy heat, don't add as much as it is difficult to tone it down later.

If you find that your pork vindaloo is not spicy enough, you can always add more chilli powder. Just stir it into the sauce and let it simmer to cook out the raw flavour.

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.

Looking for a second curry to make your pork vindaloo into a feast? Try this chicken coconut curry It goes so well with a vindaloo.

Step by step photographs.

The ingredients for the recipe laid out on a counter top. — Get all your ingredients prepared and ready before you start cooking. There are a lot of them but you will be rewarded for your effort!

Roasting the spices in a dry frying pan for added flavour. — Toast the spices over a medium heat until fragrant and warm to the touch. Do not let them smoke. Transfer to a plate to cool some.

Frying garlic slivers in oil to brown them. — Now heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and fry the garlic slivers until they start to turn a golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel to soak up any excess oil. Retain the oil from the pan.

The whole spices grounded to a powder in a spice grinder. — Pour the roasted spices into a spice grinder and grind until fine.

Adding the garlic and ginger paste, chillies and one tbsp vinegar to the ground spices. — Add the garlic and ginger paste, chillies, 1 tbsp vinegar and the tamarind concentrate. Blend to a thick paste.

The pork marinating in the spice paste in a bowl. — Pour the spice paste over the pork and mix well to combine. Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Frying mustard seeds and curry leaves in coconut oil over a medium-hight heat. — Heat the remaining oil from the garlic oil over a medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle, stir in the curry leaves.

Adding the chopped onions to the pan. — Add the chopped onions to the pan and fry for about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent.

Stirring the chilli powder and ground turmeric into the onions as they fry. — Pour in the chilli powder and ground turmeric and stir these spices into the onions.

Adding the chopped tomatoes to the pan. — Stir in the chopped tomatoes and bring to a low simmer.

Adding the marinated meat to the pot. — Add the meat and stir it into the hot curry base.

Adding water to the curry. — Pour in just enough water to cover. I added water to the spice grinder to get all the spices out.

Bringing the curry to a simmer. — Bring it all to a simmer and then cover to cook over a medium heat for about an hour.

Pork vindaloo served with rice. — Uncover and cook the curry down a little to thicken. Stir in the remaining vinegar and season with salt to taste. Enjoy!

Yield: 4 - 6