Chicken Vindaloo is a dish that needs no introduction. A famous, often fiery, red curry from Goa, vindaloo has made a name for itself in the world of books. Like the beautiful land of Goa, it is calm and inviting on the surface but oozing with depths of flavor and spices. You can’t rush Vindaloo… it takes time, patience and a little effort but it is worth it’s weight in gold 🙂
Soaking Time: 30 min
Prep Time: 10 min
Marinating Time: 2 hours
Cooking Time: 1.5 hours
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs – 2.5 lb (1.25kg) bite size pcs.
Onions – 4 cups
Clarified Butter (Ghee) – 2 tbsp
Deghi Mirch / Kashmiri Mirch – 2 tsp + 2 tsp
Potatoes – 2 medium, peeled & cubed
Water – 4 cups
White Vinegar – 2 tbsp
For the Marinade:
Dry Red Chillies – 12 or to taste
White Vinegar – 1/4 cup (4 tbsp)
Cloves – 7
Peppercorns – 15 or to taste
Cinnamon Sticks – 2? piece
Ginger – approx. 2 tbsp, minced
Garlic – 12 large cloves
Cumin Seeds – 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder – 2 tsp
Deghi Mirch / Kashmiri Mirch – 2 tsp
Water – 2-4 tbsp for grinding
Salt – 2 tsp
Method:
1. Soak Dry Red Chillies in 1/4 cup White Vinegar for 30 minutes.
2. Pour into blender, along with Cloves, Peppercorns, Cinnamon Sticks, Ginger, Garlic, Deghi Mirch, Cumin Seeds and Turmeric Powder.
3. Grind into smooth paste, use 2-4 tbsp Water if needed to help grind.
4. Prep Chicken by cutting to bite-size pieces, wash and pat dry with paper-towel.
5. Mix the marinade into the Chicken, add Salt, cover. Allow to marinade in refrigerator for minimum 2 hours (overnight if possible).
6. In same grinder, blend onions into fine paste and mix into marinated Chicken.
7. In large pan, heat Clarified Butter (Ghee) on medium heat.
8. Once hot, add additional Peppercorns and Cloves.
9. Once they start sizzling, add in Chicken. Mix and allow Chicken to change color (approx 10 min).
10. Add in Potatoes, Deghi Mirch, Water and White Vinegar.
11. Mix, lower heat to a medium-low flame, cover and cook for approx. an hour. Stir intermittently.
12. After an hour, check on the Potatoes, they should be cooked. Check on your Salt and spices and adjust if needed.
13. Remove from flame stove and serve over white Rice or with some hot Naans.
Tip:
1. Vindaloo tastes even better the next day, it gives the spices to marinate the Chicken further.
2. To make authentic Vindaloo, change out the chicken for some pork, but remember to cook it a bit longer.
Anuja / Hetal, I am not into cooking, but had the urge to make a chicken vindaloo and downloaded the first recipe that i found on the net. It turned out dark brown (not like the red vindaloos I remembered), and had a coarse texture to it (perhaps due to the red chilies not being finely ground), and with a sweetish tinge (the recipe I had said to add jaggery or brown sugar).
As I had it at the back of my mind that something was not right, I checked the net again for other recipes and found your site and the ever so simple method in which you have laid out the recipe.
I have been trying to kick myself for not discovering your site earlier. The format is so uncomplicated, and “clean”, and makes cooking for amateurs like me – extremely simple.
I will be an ardent follower of this site henceforth! Thanks again !
Gopi
toooooooooooo much make up.
Hi ladies,
I’m a fan of your site, and have tried many dishes over the past several years. If found your Vindaloo dish interesting, as it differs from many I’ve seen online. I followed it pretty closely, though I used pork instead of chicken, and I threw in an extra potato. I also added about 8 fresh green chilies and a sprig of curry leaves, just for the heck of it. I do want to point out that the pork cooked long before the potatoes were finished. In fact, it was beginning to dry out, so I pulled the pieces out and covered in a side dish with some gravy. It took at least another 30 minutes for the potatoes to cook. I used pork from the freezer, so maybe that was the difference? Next time, maybe I should parboil the potatoes first?
Great flavor though. And with the extra chilis, it will keep us warm during this cold rocky mountain winter! Keep the recipes and videos coming! And stare at the camera all you want! 😉
I have ground cumin not seeds would that be an issue? And if not an issue should I adjust the amount?
Hi Summer,
Cumin powder will work…same quantity.
So, Hetal, please don’t take this wrong. I love the blog and I love Indian food. Have you watched yourself? You stare into the camera. Please consider not doing that. Anuja does not look into it and seems so much more relaxed and natural. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the feedback Erik! Will keep that in mind :).
Very nice and very great. i prefer to keep it in the oven for 5 – 10 min more 🙂
I am vegetarian, this dish looks awesome, can we substitute chicken with paneer or soya chunks
Yes, paneer or soya chunks would work…however, the cooking time and amount of water you use may be somewhat less.
This recipe looks delicious. I will make it for my hubby once Shravan month is over.
would cooking small pieces of chicken for an hour over cook it?
Both of you ladies look beautiful!!
Is it ok to marinate onion paste overnight rather then adding it after marination?
My only guess is that marinating chicken with onions would release a lot of water and there fore they add it at the end. I could be wrong.
Thank You!
Namastey,
My dear ladies,
You have not only provided the mean of feeding my stomach but gone on to feed my heart and soul as well.
I did not have the dried chillies on hand but I have a generous supply of Indian red chili powder; starting off with a tablespoonful, I “adjusted the heat” to my taste by carefully checking and adding small amounts until it was correct. Everything else was a matter of balancing out to taste.
Ghee lamps will be lit for the two of you as a thank you for sharing your knowledge and friendship.
A faithful fan, Rich
🙂
I haven’t visited the site for a couple of weeks but I’m looking forward to viewing your next veggie recipe!
Can you use something other than the deghi mirch? Maybe paprika or ancho pepper to add color.
I would almost bet (I could be wrong) that you could substitute Mexican Achiote powder, this powder has a slight sour taste but since the recipe already contains vinegar it might work okay. Now, all you need is a Hispanic store close by.
In my opinion, you can use the regular chili powder. Degi mirch and Kashmir mirch give more color to the dish.
I agree but I hate to buy this stuff if I’m only going to use it in this recipe.My spice shelf is bursting at the seams now
Thank you ,thank you a million times for this!