The Indian subcontinent · Volume 21, The Convent Kitchen, the Temple Kitchen and the Toddy Tapper’s Coast
Vindalho
Catholic Goa
Illustration
- Time
- Hands on 1 hour 30 · Waiting 8 hours
- Researched
- Researched from 48 sources in the brief
Catholic Goa's own dish, and the one the world thinks is all of Goa. Pork marinated in vinegar, garlic and chilli, the direct descendant of a Portuguese sailor's preserving trick. See Volume EU-10 for the Portuguese half of this story.
As tradition built it
Serves 4 to 6. Marinated overnight, ideally 24 hours, plus about 1 hour 30 minutes to cook.
Ingredients
- 1 kg pork shoulder, cut into large chunks
- 10 to 12 dried Kashmiri or Goan chillies, soaked in warm water
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2.5 cm piece ginger
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 6 cloves
- 5 cm cinnamon stick
- 6 tbsp toddy vinegar (or malt vinegar, see Sourcing in Britain)
- 2 large onions, sliced
- to taste salt
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
Method
- Blend the soaked chillies, garlic, ginger, cumin, peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon with the vinegar to a smooth, thick paste.
- Rub the paste into the pork thoroughly, cover, and marinate in the fridge overnight at minimum, up to 24 hours, in a non-reactive container.
- Heat the coconut oil in a heavy pan and fry the onions until deeply golden.
- Add the pork with its full marinade, salt to taste, and enough water to just cover.
- Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook gently for about 1 hour 30 minutes, until the pork is tender and the sauce has reduced and darkened.
- Rest at least an hour before serving; vindalho, like sorpotel, is widely reported to taste better the next day.
Notes
No source consulted in either research pass gave a settled ratio for the vinegar-to-chilli-to-garlic proportions above, nor a specific marination time beyond "overnight"; the quantities here sit within the range found used consistently, not a single attributed traditional formula.
What a modern chef changes
A controlled marinade and a slow braise that never loses the vinegar's bite
Rung 2.
Method
- Vacuum-seal the pork with its marinade and hold it under refrigeration for the full 24 hours, rather than an open container, for even, complete penetration with no dry patches.
- Cook the marinated pork sous vide at 80°C for 8 hours, then finish the sauce separately on the stove with the pork's own cooking liquid, reducing it hard before combining, for a piece of meat that is fully tender without the sauce ever over-reducing around it.
- Finish with a few drops of raw, unheated toddy vinegar stirred in off the heat just before serving, restoring a top note of acidity the long cook softens.