Authentic Goan Pork Vindaloo

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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.