Chicken Vindaloo (Restaurant Style)

Chicken Vindaloo is a spicy, hot and tangy Portuguese influenced Indian dish originated in Goa. Chicken is marinated in a spicy vinegary paste and simmered to perfection for a delicious curry. My step-by-step recipe & video will help you make a real good restaurant style Vindaloo that’s easily customizable to your palate.

About Vindaloo

Vindaloo is a spicy, hot & bright red Goan curry, traditionally made with pork. It was derived from the Portuguese dish carne de vinha d’alhos, which refers to meat in wine & garlic. The dish is traced back to the times when Portuguese colonized Goa. They brought with them carne de vinha d’alhos. Chilies & vinegar making from toddy were also introduced to the locals during that time.

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Goans derived a similar dish but spiced it up with locally available spices and called it Vindaloo. Later it became a celebratory dish made often in the Goan & Anglo-Indian homes, especially during Christmas, Easter, weddings & even when the cravings kick-in.

Since Goa was one of the top tourist destinations of India, foodies who visited the place tried to replicate the dish after returning to their home country. That’s how Vindaloo became world popular. It is now served in Indian restaurants & British curry houses across the world.

There are as many versions of Vindaloo in India as there are cooks. Goans, Anglo-Indians and even Keralites have their own versions. The combination of spices and the kind of vinegar used vary widely.

While vinegar, garlic and red chilies are the 3 essentials of a basic vindaloo, you will find ingredients like ginger, curry leaves, tamarind & coriander being used in some versions. I have seen a lot of Anglo-Indians make their dish even without onions and tomatoes. A traditional vindaloo is made with pork. But a lot of Indians don’t eat pork, so it is also made with chicken and mutton.

Faqs

My Recipe

This Chicken Vindaloo is made the authentic way by marinating meat with a fresh ground vinegary spice paste known as vindaloo paste. It is simmered until the meat is tender and the sauce achieves a thick consistency similar to that of a curry.

Chicken being a delicate white meat cooks much faster when marinated and simmered with vinegar. So if you add a lot of vinegar, your chicken is going to turn mushy and the sauce won’t get enough time to thicken. If you cut down the spices or use a lot of liquid, you will end up with a runny sauce.

Ingredients to make Vindaloo

Like any other Indian dish, this recipe turns out best with whole spices but you may use ground spices if that’s all you have. I have provided the recipe for both – whole and ground spices. Here is what you need.

• Vinegar: Use malt vinegar, coconut palm vinegar/Goan Vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sugarcane vinegar or red wine vinegar. I find white vinegar to be too harsh for this recipe. If you are using high acidity vinegar (above 5%), cut down the amount and dilute it with little water.
• Garlic and Ginger: This recipe essentially requires high amount of fresh garlic and ginger. Blending these 2 spices brings out the real flavors but you may use them grated if you want.
• Red Chilies: Whole dried red chilies are a vital ingredient in a vindaloo. Kashmiri or Byadgi variety impart a bright red color & strong flavors to the dish. If you do not have them, simply use Kashmiri red chili powder. To make the dish extra hot, you may use high heat chilies.
• Spices: Cumin, pepper, cinnamon, cloves and mustard are the key spices used.

Special spices

• I love using 2 extra spices, green cardamoms and coriander in my Chicken Vindaloo. Green cardamom helps cut down the sharp taste of vinegar.
• Coriander seeds helps thicken the curry without altering the flavor of the dish. It won’t impart strong flavors like the other spices. But will thicken your curry by soaking up some of the excess liquid your chicken may release while cooking.

However if you are making a Vindaloo with pork or other kind of red meat omit the green cardamoms and coriander.

More Chicken Recipes
Chicken Jalfrezi
Madras Chicken
Palak Chicken (Spinach Chicken)
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken Korma
Indian Chicken Curry

Photo Guide

How to make Chicken Vindaloo (stepwise photos)

I prefer to soak my red chilies (20 dried Kashmiri or byadgi) in ¼ cup hot water and ¼ to ⅓ cup vinegar (60 to 80 ml), for 10 mins. This helps to grind them better. If you are using chili powder, omit this step.

Make Vindaloo Paste

1. Add the following spices to a grinder/blender. (Or if you are using ground spices, simply mix all the ingredients for paste in a mixing bowl and jump to step 5)

• 1½ teaspoon cumin seeds (or 1 teaspoon ground cumin)
• 10 black pepper corn (or ½ to ¾ crushed black pepper)
• 2 inches Ceylon cinnamon (or ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon ground cinnamon)
• 6 cloves (⅓ teaspoon ground cloves)
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds (or ¼ teaspoon ground mustard)
• 2 green cardamoms (optional, ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom)
• 1½ tablespoon coriander seeds (or 1 tablespoon ground coriander)

2. Grind them to a fine powder.

3. Add the following:

• 10 garlic cloves (25 grams or use 2 tablespoons fine grated)
• 1½ inch ginger (25 grams or use 2 tablespoons fine grated)
• 20 Kashmiri dried chilies soaked in hot water & vinegar (mentioned below) for 10 mins (deseed for low heat) or use 1¼ tablespoon Indian chili powder
• ¼ cup vinegar (malt/Goan/apple cider/red wine vinegar, to soak)
• ¼ cup water (to soak)

4. Grind to a thick smooth paste. You may taste test to adjust the heat levels and vinegar if you want.

5. In a mixing bowl, take ¾ to 1 kg (2 pounds) skinless bone-in chicken or 1½ pound boneless. Sprinkle ¾ to 1 teaspoon sea salt and ½ teaspoon turmeric. Marinate, cover and rest aside for 1 hour to overnight in the refrigerator. If using bone-in, don’t rest for longer than 2 to 3 hours else the chicken will fall off the bone soon.

Make the Curry

6. Pour 3 tablespoons oil to a pan/pot and add 2 cups fine chopped onions (250 grams, from 2 onions). I processed yellow onions in a food processor. Saute until they turn golden to light brown, for about 9 to 10 mins.

7. Deglaze the pan with 2 tablespoons water or a tablespoon of vinegar + water. Cook down for 2 to 3 mins until jammy.

8. Stir in the marinated chicken and saute on a medium heat for 4 to 5 mins.

9. Add the tomato puree (optional, 2 medium tomatoes pureed or 1 tablespoon tomato paste like mutti).

10. Mix well and cook for 3 to 4 mins.

11. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thick.

12. If the pan dries out (when using bone-in always use), pour ¼ to ½ cup hot water. I use about ½ cup but it may be different for you. If your chicken vindaloo is runny, evaporate the excess moisture by cooking further. It thickens a bit more upon cooling. Taste test and add more salt or 1 tsp sugar to balance the tang.

Chicken Vindaloo tastes best the next day. You may refrigerate for the flavors to develop. Reheat and serve it with steamed rice, poee (Goan bread) or any kind of artisan breads or flatbreads like Naan or Tandoori roti. Flavored rice Saffron rice, Jeera rice, Basmati rice or even plain Parathas go well. A cooling Raita is a great addition.

Expert Tips

• I use a spice grinder that can do dry and wet grinding both. However if your spice grinder can’t do the wet grinding, you may powder the spices first in the spice grinder. Transfer it to a jar, throw in the wet ingredients like soaked chilies, ginger, garlic and vinegar to use a stick blender.
• If you have a high speed blender, you can transfer the sauteed onions along with all the ingredients required to make the vindaloo paste. Grind with an additional 1/4 cup water. Avoid using additional water when you cook the chicken.
• Be extra cautious while using water. Chicken releases some of the juices while cooking. This can make your sauce runny so use water in smaller batches.
• It is essential to cook down the onions well.

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This Recipe was first published in December 2019. Updated in June 2025.

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