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”. Much like Rogan Josh, this immensely popular dish is quite commonly found on the Indian restaurant menus & is known as the spiciest & hottest of the Indian dishes.
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 up 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.
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
How To Make Chicken Vindaloo (stepwise photos)
Make vindaloo paste
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.
Make vindaloo curry
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
Recipe Card
Chicken Vindaloo Recipe
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US 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.
How to 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.
- To increase the heat: Just mix together some red chilli powder with little water and pour it to the pot.
- The color of your vindaloo will depend on the red chilies used. But that will not affect the taste.
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
Also, is it ok to have some meat that has skin on it? 😀
Yes it’s okay!
🙂
Few things. I doubled the recipe but in the directions it didn’t change the water and vinegar adjustment. Why didn’t you add all the vinegar and water from the soaking of chilis in the video but you say to in the recipe?
Also, about how long do you cover and cook for?
Mine is marinating overnight tonight and I can’t wait til it’s all done 😀
Hi Karen,
Yes you need to use all of it. I prefer to add the liquid in batches while blending so it won’t splash out from the grinder. Cook until the chicken is fully done. Timings will vary depending on the size of chicken pieces, kind of cookware and stove used. Hope you enjoy it!
🙂
Swasthi, finally cooked this dish and served with your mixed vegetable curry. A very tasty curry.
I might not deseed some of the kashmiri chillies for the marinade to add some extra heat – or is it better just to add more chilli powder.
Also, what sort of weight of onions and tomatoes would you use.
Many thanks and peace and health to you and your family for 2022.
Hi Sandy
Thank you so much for the New year wishes. Wish you all too a very happy new year. Glad you like this. Yes I would suggest adding more chilli powder if required. Use half cup each of fine chopped tomatoes (or processed) and tomato puree. Thank you
Would you add potatoes to this? My favorite Indian restaurant does but if so what’s your advice? I tried your recipe for this and it was great!
Hi Alberto,
Saute diced potatoes after the onions for 4 to 5 mins. Next follow the recipe
Thank you! Will try tomorrow!
Really great and easy recipe! I didn’t have any redwine vinegar but the white vinegar worked great. Additionally I used 6oz of tomato sauce (instead of puree) and it turned out amazing. Will be making this dish for my family for years to come. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Suzy
Glad to know! Thank you so much!
Hi Swasthi,
Thank you for sharing this recipe. Can you please advise what blender did you use in this recipe? Your blender creates a beautiful fine paste while mine does not. Thank you!
Hi Rachel,
I used a Preeti mixer grinder here. It just lasted a few months. I have another ultra mixer grinder which does a better job.
Hi, can I still make a paste, if I’ve only got a powdered chili? If so, in what quantity? Thanks 😊
Hi,
Yes you can use 1 tbsp chilli powder
I absolutely LOVE all the recipes. This has inspired me to get back into cooking. I love how detailed everything is with pictures and clarification. I am in the middle of marinating the chicken. I want to let it sit for about a day really get soaked in. I will say I’m kind of an idiot…..I saw it said two inches of cinnamon, I completely forgot cinnamon naturally comes in sticks……..so I just thought “oh I guess they mean a ton of cinnamon” opps 😅 realized my mistake when reading the Jeera rice recipe. RAN back into the kitchen to double up everything else to help correct that, luckily it had only been about 20 minutes so fingers crossed I didn’t mess it up. It does smell amazing though even with my mess up.
Absolutely loved it. Simple and quick but result was awesome! 👍
So Glad to know! Thank you!
Thank you Swasthi for this AMAZING recipe!, this Englishman, and his Brazilian wife in Canada absolutely LOVED it! – anybody thinking wether or not to make it…..think no more just do it….its the best vindaloo ive ever had!
Thanks again!.
Hello Peter
So glad know you both loved it. Thank you!
Hi, this sounds amazing, but one question, do you debone the chicken? Thanks! Can’t wait to try.
best vindaloo reciepe i have tried yet. thanks
Glad to know! Thank you
Can I use normal white vinegar or apple cider vinegar in this recipe?
Hi Kamala
Flavor depends on the kind of vinegar used.
Apple vinegar should be okay.
Thank you Swathi 🥰
My partner is obsessed with vindaloo so I wanted to try to make one for him instead of always ordering it. This turned out delicious! Not as spicy as I thought it would be, which was great for me, and meant that I could really taste all the other flavours and the vinegar. I used fresh chilis (maybe that’s why it wasn’t so spicy?) and white wine vinegar, and marinated the chicken overnight. This recipe is a dream!
Hi DM,
So glad to know! Yes that’s because of the green chilies. Thanks for leaving a comment.
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
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!
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?
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
For the vinegar, can I substitute it with lemon juice instead for this recipe?
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
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 🙂
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.
🙂
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.
All the steps remain same. You can add chilli powder to the blender and pour vinegar and regular water. Don’t need hot water.
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.
sooo good, absolutly worth it!!! Thank you and all the best from Czech Republic!
Welcome Laura