Chicken vindaloo recipe with video & step by step photos. Vindaloo is a popular Portuguese influenced Indian dish made by marinating & simmering meat in a spicy vindaloo paste. The term vindaloo refers to “meat marinated in wine & garlic”. This immensely popular dish is quite commonly found on the Indian restaurant menus & is much known as the spiciest & hottest of the Indian dishes.
The history of vindaloo has been traced back to the times when Portuguese sailors carried wooden barrels containing meat soaked in a mixture of wine & garlic.
This was an age old technique to preserve, brine & flavorup the meat. Over a period of time naturally wine turns to vinegar & the meat developed a flavour.
Influenced by the Portuguese, Goans derived a new dish named “vindaloo”. It was flavoured & spiced up to suit their local tastebuds.
Since goa is one of the top tourist destinations in India, over the years vindaloo became world popular. There are so many versions based on the basic adaptation of soaking meat in vinegar & garlic.
The recipe I have shared here will give you a delicious, moderately spicy & flavorful chicken vindaloo. You can use the same recipe to make lamb vindaoo or shrimp vindaloo.
Authentic vindaloo
An authentic traditional vindaloo is a thick dry curry which is hot tasting with bursting flavors of garlic & spices. The authentic recipe uses no onion & no tomatoes. It is just the meat marinated and simmered in the vindaloo paste.
We get to see so many variations of this dish in the restaurants with the use of onion and tomatoes. These 2 ingredients are used just to tone down the heat.
If you prefer to make an authentic vindaloo, just skip both – onions & tomatoes from the recipe shared below.
More chicken recipes,
Chicken korma
Indian chicken curry
Szechuan chicken
Methi chicken
Preparation
1. Deseed red chilies and add them to a bowl. Pour 3 tbsps vinegar and 3 to 4 tbsps hot water. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile prepare the spice powder by adding coriander seeds, cumin, pepper, mustard seeds, cinnamon, cloves and green cardamoms to a blender jar.
3. Make a very fine powder.
4. Add chopped ginger garlic and soaked red chilies to the blender. Also add up the vinegar in which the red chilies were soaked. I added in batches and used up the entire vinegar & water mixture.
5. Blend to a very smooth paste.
6. Add the paste to cut chicken pieces. Sprinkle some salt and turmeric. Marinate, cover and set aside. If you like the chicken to absorb all the flavors then refrigerate overnight.
How to make chicken vindaloo
7. Pout oil to a pan and heat it. When the oil turns hot, add the onions (fine chopped or ground).
8. Fry the onions until golden to light brown. Then stir in 1 tbsp vinegar & sugar.
9. Add marinated chicken and saute for 3 to 5 mins on a medium flame. Garlic and ginger are raw here so saute the chicken well.
10. Add tomato puree (optional) and mix.
11. Saute again for another 2 to 3 mins.
12. If your chicken lets out lot of moisture then skip adding water. I had to pour half cup hot water. Usually organic chicken doesn’t let out any moisture and you will need to add water accordingly.
13. Mix well. Cover and cook on a medium to low heat until the chicken is fully cooked.
14. If your chicken vindaloo is runny, evaporate the excess moisture by cooking further. It thickens a bit and also turns to a dark color upon cooling.
Serve chicken vindaloo with plain rice or with naan or paratha.
Serving suggestions
In restaurants, vindaloo is eaten with steamed rice, Naan or any other Indian breads. At home we eat it mostly with jeera rice, Turmeric rice and some times with roti or paratha.
Tips to make vindaloo
Vindaloo paste is a marinade prepared by blending whole spices, red chilies, garlic, ginger & vinegar. This is the key to making the best vindaloo. You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate for 2 months. Ensure you make a fine and smooth paste of this.
Well marinated chicken not only absorbs the flavors of vindaloo paste but is also succulent when cooked. So longer the meat rests in the marinade the better it is. If you do not have enough time to rest, then cook it and allow to rest for atleast an hour or 2.
Onions are optional in the recipe. If using, then choose the default brown or yellow onions here as they go well in this dish. You can either fine chop or process them and use.
Tomato is an optional ingredient which you can skip & is not used in the authentic recipe. Without tomatoes the dish turns out extremely hot. I have blanched the tomatoes and pureed them as we don’t prefer the chunky sauce. You may use chopped instead.
Since chicken vindaloo is not a creamy dish like the butter chicken or a korma, I prefer to use onions & tomatoes either processed or pureed. If you use them chopped, you will have a chunky vindaloo.
Related Recipes
Chicken vindaloo recipe
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
To blend
- 1½ tablespoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 10 pepper corn
- 2 inches cinnamon
- 4 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms (optional)
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 20 dried red chilies (less spicy kind) or 1 tablespoon chilli powder (notes 1)
- 3 tablespoons vinegar (malt/goan/red wine vinegar) (notes 2)
- 10 garlic cloves (25 grams)
- 1½ inch ginger (25 grams)
Other ingredients
- 2 lbs bone-in chicken (800 grams to 1 kg)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon salt (I used ¾ tsp pink salt)
- 3 tablespoons oil (I used coconut oil)
- 2 onions (optional) (fine chopped or processed)
- 2 tomatoes (optional) (pureed)
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (malt/goan/red wine vinegar) (notes 2)
- 1 teaspoon sugar (notes 3)
- ¼ to ½ cup hot water (refer notes)
Instructions
Preparation
- Deseed red chilies and soak them in 3 tbsps vinegar and 3 tbsps hot water. Set aside.
- Add coriander seeds, cumin, pepper corn, mustard, cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms to a blender jar.
- Make a fine powder. Then add ginger garlic and soaked red chilies.
- Add the vinegar water mixture and make a smooth paste.
- Next add this to the cleaned chicken along with turmeric and salt.
- Marinate and rest aside for at least an hour to overnight in refrigerator to absorb the flavors.
Make chicken vindaloo
- Heat oil in a deep pot and saute the onions (optional) until golden to light brown.
- Add 1 tbsp vinegar & 1 tsp sugar to the onions.
- Then add the marinated chicken and saute for 3 to 5 mins on a medium heat.
- Pour the tomato puree (optional) and continue to saute for another 3 to 4 mins.
- If your chicken lets out lots of moisture, do not add water. Mine did not so I poured half cup hot water. If you prefer a dry curry then skip adding water. The chicken will cook in its own moisture.
- Cover and simmer until the chicken cooked through & fork tender.
- To check if the meat is done, prick it with a fork. The meat should fall off the bone easily.
- Simmer until the gravy reaches a thick & semi dry stage. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- Serve chicken vindaloo with plain rice or naan.
Notes
- Red chilies: Please adjust the spice level to suit your taste. This was not too spicy for us as I used the less spicy variety chilies.
- Vinegar: The taste & flavor of vindaloo depends on the vinegar used. So choose what goes well for you. In goan cuisine, goan vinegar is used.
- Sugar is used to cut down the pungency from garlic and vinegar. So do not skip it. It should not sweeten the dish. You can add a bit more if you prefer.
- Water: Adjust the amount of water as needed to cook your chicken. Usually organic chicken or NON-GMO chicken need more water to cook. If using the regular kind of chicken, then it will let out lots of moisture & may need lesser water.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
Video
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Sandy says
Hi Swasthi, I would like to try this.
Can I use large pieces of chicken thighs instead of bone-in-chicken. If so, maybe just quarter chicken thigh pieces?
Also, is there a particular vegetable kari I could pair with it?
Many thanks, Sandy
swasthi says
Hi Sandy,
Wish you all a very Happy new year!
Yes you can use large chicken thighs but marinate them overnight for best flavors. I usually make a light non-spicy veggie side with this. You can check these
Mix veg curry
Broccoli recipe
Aloo Gobi
Mushroom tikka. Hope these help.
Have a great time!
HJ says
Thank you for the good recipe!
I have a question. I made it according to the recipe, but the sour taste is too strong. I don’t know what I did wrong. What should I do if I don’t want to make it sour?
swasthi says
Hi,
Actually this dish is made so hot that we hardly feel the sour taste. Try using more red chilies & with a different kind of vinegar. Rice vinegar works well here. Hope this helps. Thanks for rating the recipe
Bob says
For the vinegar, can I substitute it with lemon juice instead for this recipe?
swasthi says
Hi Bob,
Vinegar is the special ingredient in this recipe. With lemon juice it will be just like any other curry and not vindaloo.
Thank you
Justin says
Hi,
Thank you so much for sharing this fabulous recipe! I just finished my second serving and am thoroughly content with how this turned out. Prior to trying your recipe, I had poured over several others, but none of them were convincing enough to try. Yours was fairly simple and authentic sounding, so I gave it a go, and I’m glad I did!
As for how I prepared it, I opted to add onions and tomato puree, but did not add the cardamom since I didn’t have any on hand – will have to add next time. I also skipped adding the half cup of water as it appeared runny enough without it.
In case others are wondering which vinegar I used, it was red wine vinegar.
Again, thank you 🙂
swasthi says
Hi Justin,
You are welcome! Glad to know it turned out good. Thank you so much for leaving a comment. I have added a note on the amount of water to use.
🙂
Andres says
If I do not have dried red chilies available and have to use Kashmiri red chili powder instead, how should step 1 in the preparation be modified? Do I just mix the Kashmiri red chili powder with the hot water and vinegar? Will all the other steps remain the same? Thanks so much.
swasthi says
All the steps remain same. You can add chilli powder to the blender and pour vinegar and regular water. Don’t need hot water.
Anish Augustine says
Hi, though your instructions are good, the website is bite clunky and difficult to find dishes easily. A change in the site and clear categorisation would be great help to locate recipes.
Laura says
sooo good, absolutly worth it!!! Thank you and all the best from Czech Republic!
swasthi says
Welcome Laura
Pritha Lobo says
Hi Swaathi…
I have tried chicken vindaloo recipe n it turned out v yummy. I m a beginner n ur blog is awesome n its helping me a lot. Thanks a lot. I just have a doubt in this recipe u have said onion (optional) if I skip onion then when can I add vinegar n sugar.
swasthi says
Hi Pritha
Glad to know. You can add them along with tomato puree.
Dashawn says
What is that metal thing called that you put the dried stuff in?
swasthi says
Hi,
It is a blender jar also known as spice jar.
Martina says
I have cooked the chicken vindaloo , folloeing your steps. Very easy to follow and super yummy
Thank you
swasthi says
H Martina
You are welcome! Glad to know it turned out good. Thank you
Priya T says
Hi Sawsthi,
I absolutely love your blog. It’s very easy to read and follow. Every recipe I have made from your blog has been a huge success among my husband, family, and friends. Thank for you sharing your recipes!
Sincerely,
Priya
swasthi says
Hi Priya
You are welcome! Glad to know your family enjoys the food. Thank you so much!
Ria Pereira says
Hey Swasthi,
Thank you for your wonderful blog and the amazing recipes.I have been cooking a lot following your recipes. Every recipe has turned out awesome so far. I made this chicken vindaloo & your naan
for dinner. Both turned out fantastic and my husband loves this vindaloo more than anything he had ever eaten. Thank you.
swasthi says
Hello Ria
You are welcome. Glad to know the recipes turned out good. Thanks much!
Maria says
Best Vindaloo recipe I’ve found on the internet! Thank you so much, it did taste amazing.
swasthi says
Hi Maria
You are welcome! Glad you liked it. Thanks much for the comment
RAJESH N RATHOD says
RUSTIC & YUMMY
swasthi says
Thank you!