Dishes · A classic of Goan · Goa's Catholic kitchens
Vindaloo
Also Vindalho, Pork vindaloo
Pork marinated in a paste of dried red chillies, garlic and spice ground in vinegar, then cooked slowly until sharp, rich and deep red.
What makes it vindaloo
Pork, with some fat.
A paste of dried chillies, garlic, ginger and whole spices ground in vinegar.
Sharp and hot together, with a little jaggery or sugar to round it.
No coconut.
Where it comes from
Its name comes from the Portuguese carne de vinha d'alhos — meat in wine and garlic. In Goa, palm vinegar took the place of wine, and chillies from the Americas, with cumin, pepper and clove, made it something new.
In Britain it became the curry-house byword for fierce heat, often with potato, from a mistaken reading of aloo in the name. A Goan vindaloo is hot, but its point is the balance of vinegar, garlic and chilli, and it keeps well — it's often better on the second day.
How it varies
Chicken or beef vindaloo
Made the same way with other meats, in Goa and beyond.
British curry-house vindaloo
Usually far hotter, often with potato and little vinegar.