Vindaloo is a Portuguese-influenced Goan dish made by cooking meat with spices and vinegar. Learn to make chicken vindaloo in a traditional way using my easy recipe.
If you like to explore a few more delicious chicken recipes, then here are some for you – Bihari Chicken Curry, Coconut Curry Chicken, Chicken Masala, Chicken Chettinad, Malabar Chicken Curry, Kerala Style Chicken Stew, and Mangalorean Chicken Sukka.
Jump to:
What Is Vindaloo
Vindaloo is a spicy Indian curry from Goa that is influenced by Portuguese cuisine. When the Portuguese came to India, they made a dish “Carne de Vinha d’ Alhos“, which literally means a dish made of meat cooked with wine and garlic.
Goans modified the dish by adding Indian spices to it and cooking it in vinegar instead of wine. The fiery red and spicy vindaloo curry thus came into existence.
Vindaloo curry is hot and spicy and is loaded with savory, lightly sweet, and tangy flavors. It is gluten-free and dairy-free.
It was originally made using pork but now I have seen its versions with chicken, beef, lamb, mutton, fish, and even chickpeas, paneer, and tofu.
Chicken Vindaloo
In today’s post, I am sharing the chicken vindaloo recipe. You can keep the base curry the same and make it with your choice of meat. The only difference will be the time of cooking as different meats require different cooking times.
Chicken vindaloo is a delicious curry that is widely popular in Goan restaurants and local Konkan households. It is spicy, tangy, fiery red in color and tastes best with either steamed rice or poi (a traditional Goan bread).
It gets most of its flavor from the freshly prepared Vindaloo paste, which is a beautiful blend of fresh ginger, garlic, white vinegar, tamarind, and a few aromatic whole spices. The tang in vindaloo curry comes from vinegar which along with the spicy dried red chilies is the star ingredient of this dish.
Ingredients
Vindaloo Paste – We will use an array of spices to make Vindaloo paste. You will need whole dry red chilies, whole coriander seeds, cumin seeds, green cardamoms, black peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, and mustard seeds.
I used Kashmiri dry red chilies, which add beautiful red color to the curry without making it too spicy. You can use any dry red chili pepper that is easily available to you.
Along with these spices, add in fresh ginger, garlic, white vinegar, and tamarind paste. Vinegar and tamarind add a nice tangy flavor to this paste, which makes it different from other chicken curries.
Traditionally, toddy vinegar is used to make this curry but if you do not have access to it, use regular white vinegar for the tanginess.
Chicken – For the best-tasting curry, use bone-in skinless chicken pieces. Bones add a lot of flavors to the curry making it irresistible. But if you are not a fan of bone-in chicken, you can use boneless chicken too.
For other non-veg versions, try the same recipe with mutton, fish, shrimps, or pork. Just keep in mind that in each of them, the cooking time will differ a bit. You can even make a vegetarian version with potatoes, tofu, cauliflower, or cottage cheese.
Tomato Puree – Tomatoes add a nice sweet tangy flavor. You can use tomato paste in place of tomato puree, just reduce the quantity a little as it is more intense in taste.
Oil – Use any vegetable oil to make the vindaloo curry.
Others – Other than the above-mentioned ingredients, you will need a few more basic ingredients such as onions, turmeric powder, salt, and sugar. You can skip sugar but it adds a little hint of sweetness and balance the flavors well.
How To Make Chicken Vindaloo
Make Vindaloo Paste
Add 10-12 whole dry Kashmiri red chilies (stalk removed), 2 tablespoon whole coriander seeds, 3-4 cloves, 1-inch piece of cinnamon stick, 2-3 whole green cardamoms, 8-10 whole black peppercorns, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, and 1 teaspoon mustard seeds to a skillet.
Dry roast on medium heat until fragrant and slightly browned (3-4 minutes). Keep stirring while roasting.
Once the spices are roasted, remove the skillet from heat and let them cool down completely. Add the roasted spices to a high-speed blender along with a 1-inch piece of ginger (chopped), 8-10 cloves of garlic (peeled), 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 1-½ tablespoon tamarind paste, and ½ cup of water and blend to make a smooth paste.
Keep scraping the sides of the blender a few times while making the paste.
Vindaloo masala paste is ready. Set it aside.
Make Vindaloo Curry
Heat 6 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
When the oil is hot, add 2 cups of chopped onions and fry till golden brown (10-12 minutes). Keep stirring frequently.
Add 2 lb (1 kg) bone-in skinless washed chicken pieces (cut into 1 and ½ inch chunks) to the pot and fry on high heat for 3-4 minutes. Keep stirring frequently.
Add 1 cup canned tomato puree and the vindaloo masala paste that we made earlier to the pot and mix well.
Now add 2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, and 1 cup water to the pot and stir gently.
Cover the pot with a lid and cook on low heat for 45-50 minutes until the chicken is cooked well.
Add ½ teaspoon sugar and cook for another minute. Chicken vindaloo is ready to be served.
Frequently Asked Questions
The curry when made in Goan homes is quite spicy and you can label it XX Hot. But you can definitely alter the spice level according to your taste buds and can make it mild too.
The number of chilies and the type I have used will give you a medium spicy curry.
If you want to make it even milder, remove the seeds from the chili.
It has no dairy in it. Most restaurants serve a very modified version of this dish which is far from the original recipe. And they might add cream to their dish. So if you have any allergies, do check with the chef before you order it.
Since no flour is added to the dish, there is no gluten in it and is perfectly fine for gluten intolerant people to have it.
But in a restaurant, make sure to ask if their version is gluten-free or not.
You can make this curry in an instant pot as well. Dry roast the spices and make a vindaloo paste using spices, vinegar, and chilies.
Now press SAUTE in the instant pot. Add oil. When the oil is hot, add onions and fry until they turn golden brown. Add chicken and fry for 4-5 minutes.
Add the vindaloo masala paste, tomato puree, salt, turmeric, and water. Close the lid of the Instant Pot and press PRESSURE COOK. Set the timer for 5 minutes.
Let the timer go off and the pressure release on its own for 15 minutes.
Release the remaining pressure and open the lid off the instant pot. Add sugar and mix well.
Traditionally, Goans use palm or coconut toddy vinegar, but if you cannot find the same you can use white vinegar, rice vinegar, or cider vinegar. To compensate for the hint of sweetness that palm vinegar provides, you can add in a little sugar just like I did.
Many Goan Hindus add coconut milk to their vindaloo curry to make it creamy and rich. You can try it too.
One serving of this curry has approximately 350 calories. You can reduce the portion size if you are watching your calories. You can even reduce the amount of oil that goes into making this curry.
Yes, you can prepare the vindaloo paste ahead of time and store it for about a month in the fridge. Store it properly in an air-tight container and use a clean and dry spoon to take out the paste every time you use it.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve steamed basmati rice or jeera rice with chicken vindaloo.
In Goa, it is served with a special bread called Poi. You can also serve it with dinner rolls, pav, or white bread.
It tastes great with roti, tawa paratha, Kerala parotta, naan, or laccha paratha. Sometimes, I also like to serve it with dosa or appam, it tastes just delicious.
Storage Suggestions
Chicken vindaloo will last for about 2-3 days in the refrigerator when stored in an airtight container. Reheat it in a pan or microwave before serving. If you feel it has thickened a bit after refrigerating, add in some hot water and adjust the consistency.
You can even freeze this curry. Cool it completely and transfer it to a freezer-safe box and freeze for up to a month. Thaw it on the counter for 3-4 hours and then reheat with little water until nice and warm before serving.
You Might Also Like
Recipe Card
Chicken Vindaloo Recipe
Ingredients
For Vindaloo Paste
- 10-12 whole dry Kashmiri red chilies (or any other dry chilies. Remove the stalks.)
- 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
- 3-4 cloves
- 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
- 2-3 whole green cardamoms
- 8-10 whole black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 8-10 cloves of garlic (peeled)
- 1 inch piece of ginger (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 and ½ tablespoons tamarind paste
For The Curry
- 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 2 pounds bone-in skinless chicken (cut into 1 and ½ inch chunks)
- 1 cup canned tomato puree (or ½ cup tomato paste)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon white granulated sugar
Instructions
Make Vindaloo Paste
- Add red chilies, coriander seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick, green cardamoms, black peppercorns, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds to a skillet.
- Dry roast on medium heat until fragrant and slightly browned (3-4 minutes). Keep stirring while roasting.
- Once the spices are roasted, remove the skillet from heat and let them cool down completely. Add the roasted spices to a high-speed blender along with ginger, garlic, white vinegar, tamarind paste, and ½ cup of water and blend to make a smooth paste.
- Keep scraping the sides of the blender a few times while making the paste.
- Vindaloo masala paste is ready. Set it aside.
Make Vindaloo Curry
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add onions and fry till golden brown (10-12 minutes). Keep stirring frequently.
- Add chicken pieces to the pot and fry on high heat for 3-4 minutes. Keep stirring frequently.
- Add tomato puree and the vindaloo masala paste that we made earlier to the pot and mix well.
- Now add salt, turmeric powder, and 1 cup water to the pot and stir gently.
- Cover the pot with a lid and cook on low heat for 45-50 minutes until the chicken is cooked well.
- Add sugar and cook for another minute. Chicken vindaloo is ready to be served.
Cathy | She Paused 4 Thought
Gorgeous! I can’t wait to try this.
msnehamathur
Thnx Cathy 🙂
[email protected]
Such a beautiful red the curry has Neha 🙂
msnehamathur
Thnx Prash
Anwesha
I love your blog. Wonderful recipes there. If you could share some recipes which can be easily made in hostel and does not require a mixer to make pastes like cashewnut paste, I’d be very grateful.
VP
Made this today and loved it. It turned out really good.
Neha Mathur
Happy to hear 🙂
Anu Yalo
Looks really good
Neha Mathur
Thnx. Do try. You will love it.
Andrea
This dish looks amazing. I have all the ingredients to make this tomorrow except for the tamarind paste. Is there a substitute i can use?
Neha Mathur
You can use lemon juice instead. However for next time, do try to source tamarind paste as it gives a very peculiar flavour 🙂
Richard
Lovely dish, thanks for a great recipe 👍
Neha Mathur
Thanks for trying 🙂
Sharad
Appreciate the Authenticity of taste you managed to render on the vindhalho.. Typically the kashmiri red chillies are soaked in vinegar for 30 mins or so before grinding. Prefer home made toddy vinegar / Homemade organic vinegar (made from sugarcane juice) for that extra pungent note.
Neha Mathur
Thnx a lot. Will try soaking the chillies in vinegar next time.
Renee
OMG..I made this today and all I can say is thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us!!! I followed it to a T, other than I used all thighs. What a beautiful flavour, and I see myself using this for fish, shrimp or even a veggie dish. Once again thank you, definitely a keeper!!!!!!
Neha Mathur
I am so glad you liked it 🙂
Aashii
Made this today and papa said,” restaurant jaisa bana hai ..!” And true it is. Such a flavorful and easy recipe.
Thank you very much.
Neha Mathur
Thnx a lot for trying 🙂
Rakhee
Can I keep this curry outside (not refrigerated) for 24 hrs or more..
Neha Mathur
These is lot of vinegar in it which should prevent it from spoiling, but I still suggest to refrigerate the curry to e on the safer side.
Anne
This vindaloo was AMAZING – equal quality to the vindaloo I’ve had at the best Indian restaurants.
My only substitutions were to use boneless skinless chicken thighs and add some potatoes.
Thank you for making Indian food approachable for a non-Indian home cook. Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes!!
Neha Mathur
Thnx a lot Anne for your lovely feedback :). So happy that you liked the recipe.
Roy
Yummilicious
Much appreciated by all who had it
????
Neha Mathur
Thnx a lot for trying and sharing your feedback 🙂
Glen
I made this yesterday! I couldn’t find the Kashmiri chilies at my local Indian grocery (so I used dried dundicuts that were a bit old, no heat) and I think I used too much tamarind concentrate (couldn’t find anything called paste, though I do know about mushing wet tamarind in hot water from Thai cooking), so I’ll try again and refine it a bit more. I used coconut oil instead of veg, and boneless skinless breasts cut in cubes and added only at the last 3 minutes to cook through, but otherwise followed your script exactly. It was a lot of fun to make, the house smells so wonderful, and really delicious when it was finished! Thank you for making Indian cooking accessible to the rest of us!
Neha Mathur
I am so happy you liked the recipe Glen. Keep cooking 🙂
Tammy
This recipe gets 10 stars!!!! I’ve tried many recipes to get the perfect vindaloo! This is the one!!!!!! It is DELICIOUS!! You won’t be disappointed ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Neha Mathur
I am grateful for your kind words Tammy 🙂
Simon Walker
Really good quick and simple recipe
Neha Mathur
Thanks Simon
Heather
I’ve been trying to recreate restaurant vindaloo for literal years – this is the closest I’ve come! Thanks a lot!
A few changes –
– Soak the chilis in vinegar for 30 mins as another poster suggested; add these straight to the blender
– Cook the onions to golden brown; add garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute more; blend onions in addition to the other blender ingredients for a smoother consistency
– Sub chicken stock for water and reduce salt
– Sub ghee for oil
– Rub chicken in 1-2 cloves minced garlic, pinky of minced ginger, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp chili powder; leave 20 minutes before cooking
Thanks again, fantastic!
Neha Mathur
Good to hear this and thanks for mentioning your variations 🙂
Alexander Clayton
Best vindaloo I ever had, and I like my Indians! Bit more awkward done the other recipes and some of the ingredients where a bit more unusual but it was worth the extra effort.
Neha Mathur
Happy to hear 🙂
Helen
I just made this and it is delicious but next time I’m going to use ground coriander, mustard and cumin instead as I didn’t find the blender ground them enough and found the sauce too bitty but a great recipe all the same. Thanks
Neha Mathur
That’s a great alternative. Do try and let me know the feedback. Thanks
Dennis
Amazing is the only word to describe it, I tried it and the results were finger licking good. Only thing I would suggest is to first grind the dry ingredients separately and then with the wet ingredients, as the grind is not very fine if ground together.
Neha Mathur
Thanks for the feedback.
Brent
Green or black cardamom for this recipe?
Neha Mathur
It’s green cardamom. You can see them in the step by step instructions 🙂
Jennifer
This takes me straight back to the Indian restaurant that I worked at years ago. The spice blend is on point and I love it!! I made a vegetarian, super mild version for a friend it was just as delicious as chicken and lamb. I pre cooked my veg and just cooked the paste, onion, tomato purée, salt and turmeric for 45 min and added the salt and cooked veg and a can of drained chicken peas. I let it sit and marry for and hour off the heat before serving. To make it ultra mild I subbed paprika for the chili’s. The 3 year old loved it!!
Neha Mathur
So happy that you lied this recipe Jennifer 🙂
Jigna
Halved the recipe, used boneless chicken thighs and forgot to dry roast the spices. Still turned out amazing! Cant wait to try it again with the dry roast. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Neha Mathur
Good to know 🙂
sudeepa
hi i want to try the recipe but do not have toddy vinegar, i have plain regular syntgetic vinegar. Will that work?
Neha Mathur
Yes, you can use it.
Barbara
It is perfect! I didn’t use a blender but a mortar. That’s also good for your muscles 🙂 Also you can still find a tiny piece of cinamon here or there, which I really love as a little surprise.
THANK YOU very much! I can’t keep tasting now since I have made it for visitors… there will be nothing left…. 😉
NB I have added a little fenugreek too
Neha Mathur
Happy to hear 🙂
sarah levett-yeats
Thank you for sharing your recipe ???? stunning flavour.
Neha Mathur
Glad that you liked it.
Derek Thomas
Oh wow – this was so good. I was a little apprehensive as I didn’t have all the ingedients to hand so made some substitutions. I didn’t have tamarind so used amchoor instead and I used a carton (500g) of passata in place of the tomato purée so didn’t add the cup of water. Anyway – the result was truly delicious – thank you so much. I’ll risk a few extra chillies next time. I’ve also just seen the suggestion of adding fenugreek in an earlier feedback – think I’ll give that a go too…
Neha Mathur
Good to know Derek 🙂
Sylvia
What can I substitute for the chillies? I don’t have Indian grocers nearby. There’s really asian tiny red peppers 🌶 or red pepper flakes.
Also if I’m allergic to cinnamon can I substitute?
Thanks!
Neha Mathur
You can skip adding cinnamon and for the red chillies, use any pepper that you have.
Carrie
I received pre-made Vindaloo spice from Reluctant Trading Co. as a gift. Which ingredients would I remove from your recipe in order to use the pre-made spice blend? Put another way, can I use pre-mixed Vindaloo spice in your recipe and if so, how much would I use and what, if any, ingredients would I remove from your recipe? If you don’t know, I can just “wing it” and let you know. Thank you!
Neha Mathur
Hi Carrie, each brand has its own ratio of ingredients for spice mixes. It’s very difficult for me to tell how much of this particular one should you use. I always recommend making the recipes from scratch because that taste cannot be achieved using readymade spice mixes.
Jenny Lendrum
I am wanting to make this for some friends in the next week or so. My question is, would the flavour be better if chicken was marinated for a few hours before cooking?
Neha Mathur
No Jenny, you really don’t have to marinate the chicken.
Martin
It was a lovely vindaloo curry, so good I have made it twice in one week !
The only element I changed was I fried the chicken separately to the onion so that I got all of the chicken sealed and slightly caramelised.
Lisa Lian
Hello! I’m currently cooking this recipe and it smells great. Cannot wait to taste it! In the directions I noticed the paste and the curry both called for 0.5 cup of water. But I don’t see the water in the paste ingredients list. My paste did come out a little more watery than expected.. Wondering what is correct? Thanks!
Neha Mathur
Hi Lisa, I generally do not mention the quantity of water in the ingredients list, but I think I should to make things easier. If your paste is slightly liquidy, it’s totally fine.
Dave R
Fantastic. Added 1/2 can of coconut milk.
Alex
Made it as written with a few small changes, 4 TBSP of oil instead of 6 (6 seemed excessive and it worked out fine to lessen it), swapped in a TBSP of lemon juice because I was out of frozen tamarind paste and didn’t feel like dealing with the hassle of making fresh paste, and subbed in cubed, boneless, skinless chicken breast. We seared the large chix breast cubes for 3 minutes, added the rest of the ingredients, mixed, brought to a boil, lowered to simmer, and cooked covered for about 7 minutes at which point we started testing the chix cubes with a quick-read meat thermometer. Turned out great! I used a 1/2 cup of tomato paste instead of the puree and think that’s probably the best choice. Very thick and flavorful gravy. 12 kashmiri chilies resulted in a slightly above medium heat level. Overall this was really close to what they make at our favorite local Indian place, though I’m guessing they also add plenty of ghee as well. One word of advice about making the paste – grind your spices first, and when grinding them, I’d recommend breaking up the chilies a bit before tossing them in the grinder. You’ll undoubtedly have to do it in a few batches. Personal preference, but next time I’ll probably go with malt vinegar and up the ginger just a bit. Thanks for the great recipe!