Chicken Vindaloo

Make the Best Chicken Vindaloo at home with this simple recipe. This popular Portuguese influenced Goan dish has meat, that’s been marinated & simmered in a spicy vindaloo paste. The name Vindaloo comes from the Portuguese “Carne de Vinha D’alhos’ that refers to “meat marinated in wine & garlic”. Though pork is the most common meat used, this version with chicken is more popular in the restaurants.

It is known to be one of the spiciest & hottest Indian dishes, after phaal curry. My recipe will help you make a moderately spicy but super flavorful & delicious Chicken Vindaloo. You only need whole or ground spices, vinegar & other pantry ingredients that are easily available in the grocery stores. This recipe is easily customizable to suit your palate. Use extra hot chilies or chili powder for higher heat levels.

About Vindaloo

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 & flavor the meat. Over a period of time naturally wine turns to vinegar & the meat developed a flavor.

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Influenced by the Portuguese, Goans derived a new dish named “VINDALOO”. It was flavored & spiced up to suit their local taste buds. Since Goa is one of the top tourist destinations in India, over the years this dish became world popular. There are so many versions based on the basic adaptation of soaking meat in vinegar & garlic.

An authentic traditional version of this dish is a thick dry curry made with pork. It is hot with bursting flavors of garlic & spices. The authentic recipe uses no onion & no tomatoes. It is just the pork marinated and simmered in the spicy paste. Since a lot of Indians do not eat pork, Indian restaurants offer Chicken Vindaloo and other alternates.

We get to see 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 dish, just omit both – onions & tomatoes from the recipe shared below. You will have a spicy and hot dish.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Spices: You need whole or ground spices like coriander, cumin, pepper, cinnamon, cloves and mustard . Green cardamom is optional but it helps to cut down the acidic and pungent flavors. If you do not have a spice grinder, start with ground spices but whole spices give stronger and better flavors.
• Red chili: I use whole dried red chilies which are medium hot but you can use ground chili powder or fresh red chilies. You can also use a mix of both like the way I use in this Lamb Vindaloo. For this you will make the paste with whole chilies, taste test and top up with chili powder for extra heat. Use low heat chilies like Kashmiri or Byadgi for low heat option.
• Vinegar: Use malt vinegar, apple cider vinegar, cane vinegar, Goan vinegar or red wine vinegar. I use apple cider vinegar.
• Ginger and garlic: These 2 fresh spices are the key ingredients used in the vindaloo paste. Avoid using their dried versions and if you go with the no-grind option to make the paste, you may fine grate them and use.

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

Photo Guide

Step by Step Photo Instructions

Make vindaloo paste

Option 1 with ground spices: If you do not have whole spices or don’t own a spice grinder, mix together 1 tablespoon red chili powder, 1 tablespoon ground coriander, ¾ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ to ¾ crushed black black pepper, ¼ teaspoon ground mustard, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 pinches ground cloves,¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (optional), 10 fine grated garlic cloves, 1½ inch grated ginger, 3 tablespoons malt/ apple cider vinegar/ red wine vinegar and 3 to 4 tbsps water to a thick vindaloo paste. Jump to step 6.

1. Option 2 with whole spices: you may use 20 deseeded dried red chilies or 1 tablespoon red chili powder or red chili flakes. Add the chilies to a bowl. Pour 3 tbsps vinegar and 3 to 4 tbsps hot water. Read recipe notes to find out more about what kind of vinegar to use. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, to a spice grinder add the following ingredients to make the spice blend

• 1½ tablespoons coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 10 black pepper corn
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2 inch cinnamon piece
• 4 cloves
• 2 green cardamoms (optional)

3. Make a very fine powder.

4. Add chopped & peeled ginger garlic (25 grams each, 10 garlic cloves, 1½ inch ginger ) 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. If required you may splash more water to help it grind well.

6. Add the vindaloo paste to 2 lbs. (800 grams to 1 kg) cut chicken pieces. Sprinkle ¾ to 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon turmeric. Marinate, cover and set aside. If you like the chicken to absorb all the flavors refrigerate overnight but avoid doing that if using bone-in chicken as the meat can fall off the bone too early while cooking. If using bone-in chicken, avoid marinating longer than 2 to 3 hours.

Make the Curry

7. Pout 3 tablespoons oil to a pan/pot and heat it. When the oil turns hot, add the onions (about 2 medium fine chopped or ground).

8. Fry the onions on a medium heat, stirring constantly until they turn golden to light brown. Then stir in 1 tbsp vinegar & 1 teaspoon 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, 2 medium tomatoes pureed or 1 tablespoon tomato paste like mutti) and mix.

11. Saute again for another 2 to 3 mins.

12. Cover and cook on a medium to low heat until the chicken is fully cooked.

13. If the pan is too dry, pour hot water as required. I used about half cup here it may be different for you. Usually organic chicken doesn’t let out any moisture and you will need to add water accordingly.

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 hot or rest for a day in the refrigerator for the flavors to develop. Store for up to 48 hours in the refrigerator. It goes well with fluffy Basmati Rice or with Butter Naan, Tandoori Roti or paratha. In restaurants, it 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.

Expert Tips

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 at least an hour or 2. But avoid resting overnight if using bone-in chicken, as the chicken can fall off the bone too early while cooking.

Onions are optional in the recipe. If using, then choose the default brown or yellow onions as they go well in this dish. You can either fine chop or process them and use. Avoid using red onions.

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 or use a little tomato paste.

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 sauce.

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