Vindaloo Recipe | Vindaloo Sauce | The Curry Guy (2024)
By: Author Dan Toombs
Posted on Published:
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Make this vindaloo curry sauce and add your main ingredient/s of your choice
I featured a lamb vindaloo curry sauce recipe in my cookbook ‘The Curry Guy’. Although in the book it is made with lamb, you can use the same sauce with other ingredients too.
In the book, the recipe serves four but here I’m giving you the downscaled version that serves 1 – 2 people just as they do at Indian restaurants.
The secret is in the sauce. You can add whatever main ingredient you like.
The curry house style vindaloo.
The vindaloo curries we get when we go out for a curry at a curry house are different to the original Goan pork vindaloo. This recipe is like those you get at the curry house.
Although quite spicy like the original vindaloo, the British vindaloo curry sauce is different. It is also a lot easier to make.
There was a time when ordering a vindaloo curry meant getting the same as a plain curry or Madras but with more curry powder in it.
Luckily, that is not longer the case. The British vindaloo curry sauce has its own unique flavour to the others.
Working ahead.
If you are planning a curry feast, large or small, it is often a good idea to do as much forward preparation as possible.
You could actually make this sauce a day or two before serving. It will even get better as the flavours develop.
If you are just making the sauce, you could ask people which meat or even paneer they would like in their vindaloo curry sauce.
The base sauce (gravy)
One of the secrets behind getting the curry house style curry right is the base sauce.
A prepared base sauce is used in all BIR curries. It’s mild and it needs to be. The base sauce is used in every curry from the mildest korma to the spiciest phal. My ‘go to’ recipe for the sauce is here.
Although it does take some time to make, it is the best way to get that famous vindaloo flavour and texture. The base gravy can be made a day or two ahead of time and also freezes well.
I suggest making a big batch and freezing what you don’t need. Do that and you can whip up your favourite Indian restaurant curries on a whim whenever you want.
How long with this vindaloo curry sauce last?
You can keep it in the fridge for a few days before serving. It also freezes well.
Vindaloo Flavour tip!
You will get an amazing tasting vindaloo sauce with this recipe just as it is.
There are things you can do to get even more delicious flavour into the sauce. Try adding pre-cooked tandoori meat and some of the meat juices for example.
You could also add a little stock from pre-cooked chicken or spice stock.
This is not essential but very nice.
Vindaloo is the perfect spicy curry for one to two people.
Here I added chicken and cooked potato to the curry. You can add whatever you like.
Vindaloo Curry Sauce Recipe - BIR Curry House Style
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Ingredients
2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil
3 green cardamom pods - bruised
1 star anise
1 Indian bay leaf
1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
2 green bird's eye chillies - finely chopped
1 scotch bonnet chilli - finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tbsp mixed powder
70ml (1/4 cup) tomato puree
300ml (1 1/4 cups) base sauce
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
1 pre-cooked potato - peeled
1 tbsp coriander (cilantro) - finely chopped
Salt to taste
Instructions
Heat the oil over medium-high heat and then throw in the cardamom pods, star anise and bay leaf. Allow these ingredients to infuse into the oil for about 30 seconds and then add the garlic ginger paste.
Stir the garlic ginger paste into the spice infused oil and then add all the chopped chillies. Fry these for about 30 seconds and then add the ground spices and fry for a further 30 seconds.
Your pan might be looking a bit dry at this point. Add the tomato puree and about half of the base sauce and bring to a simmer. Only stir if it looks like the sauce is sticking to the pan.
At this point, you could add the main ingredient of your choice such as chicken, lamb or paneer. You could also just carry on making the sauce and add a main ingredient when you heat it up to serve.
Add the vinegar and then the fenugreek leaves by rubbing them between your fingers. Add the pre-cooked potato and garnish with coriander (cilantro).
Season with salt to taste.
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Typically, vindaloo is made up of vindaloo sauce, which is usually made from caramelized onions, curry paste, coconut milk, vinegar, ginger, chilies, jalapeño, garlic, chickpeas, lentils, and other spices like garam masala, salt, pepper, paprika, and turmeric.
Vindaloo served in restaurants of the United Kingdom differs from the original vindaloo dish; it is simply a spicier version of the standard "medium (spiciness)" restaurant curry with the addition of vinegar, potatoes and chili peppers.
Vindaloo has a spicier depth of flavor and is cooked by simmering in the sauce, rather than stir-frying. What is a good way to make Mutton Rogan Josh at home?
A traditional vindaloo contains several key ingredients, and the sauce is made from caramelized onions, curry paste, coconut milk, vinegar, ginger, garlic and chickpeas as well as spices like garam masala, paprika and turmeric in order to give the dish its deep red colour.
Phall has achieved notoriety as the spiciest generally available dish from Indian restaurants. It is, however, quite rare to find in comparison to vindaloo (which is usually the staple hottest curry of most Indian restaurants in the UK).
Vindaloo is considered one of the hottest curries in the world. It also holds the title of being the hottest curry among other top spicy Indian dishes. It is a Goan dish inspired by the Portuguese Came de Vinha D'alhos, meaning 'meat in garlic marinade.
Korma is as mild as Vindaloo is hot. Made from Coconut and Almond it is similar to Pasanda with the difference being that Korma includes Saffron which creates a pale yellow color while Pasanda is always white.
Vindaloo is known for its spicy and tangy profile, often made with vinegar and hot spices. Tikka Masala, on the other hand, has a creamy tomato-based sauce with milder spices, resulting in a rich and mildly spiced flavor. Your preference depends on your taste for spice and degree of creaminess.
What does vindaloo taste like? Vindaloo is a spicy Indian curry dish that is known for its bold, aromatic flavor and heat. The main ingredients in a vindaloo are a variety of aromatic spices, including mustard seeds, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and chili peppers, which give the dish its characteristic heat and flavor.
How To Serve Chicken Vindaloo? Serve hot with roti or Naan. Or Serve with Basmati or Jeera rice for a gluten-free dinner. Add a side of cooling Beet raita.
Vindaloo is a traditional Indian curry that's not for the faint hearted! Chunks of beef are slow-cooked to tender perfection in a fiery-red sauce packed with big, bold curry flavours. Is it spicy? Heck yes, as it should be!
1 x Carolina Reaper Curry Kit – the scariest of them all – made with the World Hottest Chilli - Carolina Reaper Chilli measures a staggering 1.5 million scoville units. 1 x Phaal Curry Kit – our second on the list – made with the Naga Ghost Chilli which also deals a spicy blow as they measure 750,000 scoville untis.
Potatoes were added at one point, probably to make the dish more cost-effective, with less meat, and more food, but many curries of India contain potatoes so it may be a cultural thing. As time went on different meats were used including lamb and chicken. A Vindaloo is traditionally served with Naan or rice.
Biju Thomas of Biju's Little Curry Shop in Denver suggests switching up the sauce: Order vindaloo instead of tikka masala. It's intensely spicy, but has plenty of bright, acidic, and vinegar-tinged notes. This is in direct contrast to tikka masala which, while delicious, is creamy and rich.
Finally, a distinct tang from vinegar is a signature Vindaloo flavour that balances the curry and gives it backbone. It's strong, hot and intense! If you're wondering how spicy it actually is, I'd say it's an 7 out of 10. Those who are accustomed to spicy food will no doubt scoff this down without breaking a sweat.
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.
In the Oxford dictionary the Vindaloo is described as a 'very hot and spicy curry. ' Despite the Vindaloo's spicy reputation, the traditional recipe of the Vindaloo is not defined by its heat but rather by its distinctly sour and garlicky flavours.
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