Pork Vindaloo
Goan pork in tangy chili sauce
Ingredients
- 800 g Pork shoulder
- 60 ml Sherry vinegar
- 2 Onion
- 40 g Ginger
- 10 cloves Garlic
- 2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
- ½ tsp Red chili powder
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 2 tsp Coriander seeds
- 6 Whole cloves
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp Black pepper
- ½ tsp Ground turmeric
- 3 tbsp Neutral oil
- 1½ tsp Salt
- 240 g Basmati rice
- 100 ml White wine (optional)
- 1 tsp Brown mustard seeds (optional)
- 1 tsp Sugar (optional)
Method
- Rinse the basmati rice until the water runs clear, then cook it in twice its volume of water, covered, until tender and the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
- Toast the cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick, and black pepper in a dry pan over medium 2 minutes until fragrant. Cool.
- Blend the toasted spices with the kashmiri chili, red chili, turmeric, sugar, ginger, garlic, the vinegar, and a splash of water into a thick smooth paste.
- Cut the pork into 4 cm chunks and rub all over with the spice paste and a good pinch of salt. Cover and marinate at least 30 minutes, or refrigerate overnight for a deeper, rounder flavour — the acid in the vinegar tenderises and seasons the meat through.
- Slice the onions thin.
- Heat a glug of oil over medium-high. Cook the onions 12 minutes until deep golden.
- Add the marinated pork (scraping in all the paste). Raise heat and cook 8 minutes until the pork starts to brown and the paste darkens.
- Pour in the wine and enough water to half-cover. Scrape the base. Season with salt. Bring to a simmer.
- Cover and braise on low 50 minutes until the pork is fork-tender. Stir every 15 minutes.
- Uncover. Reduce 5 minutes if the sauce is loose. Taste for vinegar-salt balance (vindaloo should sing with sour).
- Rest 10 minutes off heat (it gets better). Serve with rice or pao.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Pork Vindaloo
Pork vindaloo is Goa's most famous curry, born from the Portuguese carne de vinha d'alhos — meat cooked in wine and garlic — and reworked over centuries with Indian spices and chilies into something distinctly Goan. What defines it is the vinegar: a sharp, tangy backbone that sets vindaloo apart from every other Indian pork dish, cutting through the richness of the shoulder and balancing a serious load of chili heat. The spice paste is toasted whole spices — cumin, coriander, mustard, cloves, cinnamon, and pepper — ground with Kashmiri and hot chili, turmeric, ginger, garlic, and vinegar into a thick, complex base.
The eating is intense in the best way: sour, fiery, and deeply savory, with the pork turned meltingly tender by its long marinade and slow cook. Marinating the meat in the vinegar-spice paste, ideally overnight, does real work here — the acid tenderizes and seasons the pork all the way through so the flavor isn't just a coating. Traditionally it's served with plain rice or Goan pão bread to soak up the ruddy, tangy gravy, and like most braises it deepens if made a day ahead. Set aside close to two hours; this is a weekend project that rewards the patience.
Pork Vindaloo: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Pork Vindaloo?
A serving has about 729 calories — 46.7g protein, 69.5g carbs, 27.8g fat, 7.9g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 46.7g of protein, roughly 26% of its calories.
Is Pork Vindaloo gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Pork Vindaloo has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
How long does Pork Vindaloo take to make?
About 115 minutes start to finish, but only around 60 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Pork Vindaloo?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out white wine, brown mustard seeds, sugar — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Pork Vindaloo make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.