Pork Vindaloo
This pork vindaloo is an authentic dish that must be made for an East-Indian wedding. It is spicy and bright red in color. This curry is made with high fat pork and lots of vinegar which means it has a longer shelf life perfect for three to four days to serve at every meal at that wedding.
If you’ve ever been to an East-Indian wedding dinner then you can’t miss the bright red, thick curry pork vindaloo often right besides yet another very popular classic called Sarpatel. These two are usually at the center of every meal.
This is an authentic dish and you will see it is very different from the recipes for vindaloo found online. This one has no oil because there is enough fat in pork just like when you cook bacon. The oil in pork is just enough to add moisture. There is no water in this dish either instead, we use vinegar which works as a preservative.
About vindaloo
This name vindaloo comes from the Portuguese name vinha d’alhos meaning cooked in wine.
Pork vindaloo was bought into India by the Portugues. They used wine instead of water so they could preserve the meat at room temperature for many days. Later, the dish was adapted by Indians using plum vinegar instead of wine which is why this dish is now more Indian than Portuguese.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Pork – high fat is usually the way to go with this dish to make it the traditional method. Having said that, if you are making it for the home and don’t want to keep it out for more than a few hours you can use regular lean pork.
- Kashmiri chilies – these chillies are definitely the onces you must use for this dish because these give the dish that authentic deep red color. Having said that, if you are overseas and can’t get kashmiri red chilies you can try sweet red paprika along with a few hot red paprika.
- Vinegar – homemade plum vinegar made from plum wine is authentic to this dish. But, often I never have access to this so so I use apple cider vinegar.
- Spices – despite the red color which makes this looks very complicated the truth is that the spices use are not many! Just cumin, ginger, garlic, and turmeric.
- Cumin – toasting the cumin seeds before grinding them adds a nice flavor to the spices mix. Try it.
Frequently asked questions?
Authentic vindaloo is high in pork fat and vinegar. Most importantly there is no water used which is why the shelflife for this dish is 3 to 4 days at room temperature. You can keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Absolutely, you can use this masala and method to make beef vindaloo or chicken vindaloo. You can even use ground chicken to make a minced chicken vindaloo. You can also use the marinade to make vindaloo pork sausages
I love having east Indian handbreads or apas with my pork vindaloo but at a wedding feast, you will often see it served with fugias or varias alongside the popular wedding rice with fruit and nuts.
I like to serve some gawar fugat or green beans fugat on the side.
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Ingredients
- 1 kg (2 lb) Pork
- 15 Red Kashmiri chilles
- 10 Garlic cloves
- 1 inch Fresh ginger
- 1½ tbsp Cumin seed jeera
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- ¾ cup (180 ml) Vinegar
Instructions
- Prepare pork – Cut the meat into large chunks, season generously with salt and pepper – let marinate overnight in the fridge. On the next day, wash and pat dry.
- Ground masala – Soak the chilies in hot water for 10 minutes. In a blender or food processor – blend together the chilies, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and cumin seed with vinegar. (Do not use water) Pro tip – I like to remove the seeds from the chilies to make them less spicy but it also gives a smoother consistency for the masala paste.
- Marinate the pork – Add the ground masala to the chopped pork pieces making sure to massage it into the meat so it is all well coated. Let it marinate for 8 hours in the fridge or up to 24 hours. Pro tip – Use an earthen pot, plastic, or glass container to marinate. Do not use a metal container as the vinegar will react with the metal causing oxidization.
- Cook the vindaloo – Place the vindaloo in a skillet or cook it over medium heat until the pork renders some of the fat. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook until the meat is fork-tender.
- Taste and adjust seasoning. If necessary add more vinegar (but not water).
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Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
I have only ever eaten pork vindaloo at weddings and wondered how to make at home. I didn’t know it as so easy. I am going to make this Sunday
Thank you, Marquita. yes, it is very easy to make
Superb.
All dishes excellent
Thank you, Anne
What is the purpose of soaking the kashmiri chillies? I only have a few, and am wondering if I can make the recipe with fewer chillies if I soak them for less time (or leave the seeds).
Soaking will soften the chilies which makes a smooth paste otherwise the paste will be very coarse. Vindaloo has a strong bring red color which comes from the chilies. Kasmiri is less spicy. By adding more and removing the seeds we get that color. But you can use less if you don’t mind the color and less spice.
Thank you!
I don’t have whole Kasmiri chilis, but I do have ground Kasmiri as well as smoked and sweet paprika.
How many tablespoons of ground Kasmiri would approximate the 15 whole chilis?
Cheers
I would say about 5 chilies would make 1 tsp of chilly powder.
Hi Veena.I am an Eastindian from Bombay as well but now settled in Canada.I found a lot of similarities from reading your blog and found it amusing.
Thank you, Isaac. Nice to meet you.
how do you manage to have gravy in this preparation? too much vinegar will be sour, water cant be used.
Yes, in pork vindaloo, you don’t add water, just vinegar.
Any water will reduce the shelf life at room temperature, and more vinegar will increase the shelf life, which is what was necessary during weddings back in the old days or, rather, when you can’t put large quantities in the fridge.
These days we can put things in the fridge so you can put water.
Alternatively, portion the quantity you want to serve and add a little water or broth for gravy so the rest stays thick and untouched.
Happy Holidays.