Vindaloo

For other uses, see Vindaloo (disambiguation).

Vindaloo

A beef vindaloo curry, Melbourne, Australia, 2008
Alternative names	Vindalho
Type	Curry
Course	Main course
Place of origin	Goa, United Kingdom
Main ingredients	Pork or other meat, vinegar, spices, chili peppers
Cookbook: Vindaloo   Media: Vindaloo

Vindaloo is a curry dish known globally in its British form as a staple of curry houses and Indian restaurants, specifically a fiery, spicy dish that can be made with a choice of meats. Vindaloo's name derives from the famous ^[1] Portuguese Goan dish carne de vinha d'alhos (meat with garlic vinegar) or vindalho, made with pork. ^{[2] [3]}

Starting in the 19th century, the Portuguese dish was transformed into the British vindaloo curry. When the British took over Goa, they took over the colony's cooks, and Anglo-Indian cuisine acquired "Portuguese curry". This was then applied to meats including beef and duck. In the 20th century, some recipes called for lemon juice in place of wine vinegar, possibly because British Muslim chefs intentionally omitted it. As a postwar British restaurant dish, vindaloo became popular as the curry to eat after pub closing time. The drunken clientele then demonstrated its machismo by ordering a specially hot curry. Potatoes are sometimes added through confusion with Hindi aloo.

Portuguese Goan dish

The Portuguese founded their State of India in 1501; Goa became its capital in 1530. ^{[4] [5]} A standard element of Goan cuisine derived from the Portuguese carne de vinha d'alhos ("meat in garlic wine" ^[6] ), vindalho or vindaloo is a dish of pork marinated in vinegar and garlic. ^{[7] [8]} This was adapted by the local Goan cooks with the substitution of palm vinegar for the wine, and the addition of spices. ^[9]

According to the chef Raghavan Iyer, cooks in Goa were free to use pork, a meat avoided by Hindus and Muslims in India, because they had been converted to Christianity by the Portuguese. ^[10] The historian of food Lizzie Collingham writes that formerly high-caste Goans made a point of eating pork and beef as they had acquired outcaste status by becoming Christians, and accordingly had to emphasize their closeness to the Portuguese, such as by eating vindalho. ^[1] Collingham writes that the Goans did not have vinegar, so the Portuguese there used sour tamarind, or made vinegar from coconut palm toddy. ^[1] In addition, she states that the Portuguese liked their food extremely spicy-hot, with up to 20 chili peppers in a recipe. ^[1] Christopher Columbus found chili pepper when he sailed to Central America in 1492, and it was soon planted in the Iberian Peninsula. By 1528 at the latest, the Portuguese had introduced it to the Malabar Coast, and several varieties of it were being grown in Goa; their use quickly spread across India. ^[11]

Vindaloo has, Collingham writes, become the most famous element of Goan cuisine. ^[1] Traditional Goan vindalho does not include potatoes; some Indian versions add them due to the confusion with the Hindi आलू aloo, "potato". ^{[12] [13]}

• 
  The Portuguese used coconut palm toddy (pictured) to make vinegar for their vindalho. ^[1]
• 
  Pork vindalho in a Goan-style Indian restaurant. Lisbon, Portugal, 2011

Fiery British dish

Origins

Anglo-Indian cuisine during the British Raj: "Vindaloo or Bindaloo—A Portuguese Kárhí", in The wife's help to Indian cookery, W. H. Dawe, 1888

When the British took over Goa from the Portuguese, they took over the colony's cooks. As a result, Anglo-Indian cuisine in the 19th century took on vindaloo or "Portuguese curry". Its method of preparation was then used for other kinds of meat, including especially duck. ^[14] W. H. Dawe's 1888 cookery book, The Wife's Help to Indian Cookery, gave a recipe for "Vindaloo or Bindaloo—A Portuguese Kárhí", suggesting beef, pork, or duck as the meat. ^[15] London's Veeraswamy restaurant, opened in 1926, served the same sort of British Raj food, including duck vindaloo in its early years. ^[16] Vindaloo became widespread in Britain with the creation of more Indian restaurants in the 1970s. ^[17]

The food writer Glyn Hughes suggests that at that time, British Muslim chefs intentionally omitted the pork and the wine vinegar called for by the Portuguese recipe, substituting chicken or beef as the meat and lemon juice for the vinegar. ^[18] Iyer on the other hand gives a recipe for "British Curry House Vindaloo" which uses both vinegar and pork, along with both mild spices and "potent-hot" chili. ^[19] A variant theory, from the food writer Pat Chapman, is that vindaloo served in British restaurants is not based on the Portuguese dish, but simply a version of the standard medium spicy (Madras) restaurant curry with the addition of vinegar, potatoes and plenty of chili peppers. ^[20] Felicity Cloake however writes that the dish is sweet and sour rather than hot, and that the "tangy gravy works best with rich meats like duck or pork". ^[21]

Evolution of Vindaloo, from Portuguese Carne de Vinha d'Alhos with pork, to Goan Vindalho with pork and chili peppers, to a fiery British curry. The Portuguese brought chili peppers to India, and Christianity which enabled the people of Goa to eat pork.

Restaurant curry

Further information: Curry in the United Kingdom

The "Vindaloo" restaurant and takeaway, Evington, Leicestershire, England, 2008

The name "vindaloo" was effectively redefined in postwar British usage to mean simply an extremely hot curry, contrasting with a mild korma. ^[22] Vindaloo has indeed featured in "challenge" competitions to see who can eat such a hot curry. ^[23] Collingham writes that the habit of British Indian restaurants of the period of staying open late, after pub closing time, allowed working class Britons to discover "that a good hot vindaloo went down particularly well on a stomach full of beer", and people became accustomed to have a curry after an evening's drinking. ^[24] This was accompanied by the "lager-loutish tradition of rolling, uproariously drunk, into an Indian restaurant and proving one's machismo by ordering the hottest vindaloo or phaal possible". ^[25]

International dish

From Britain, Vindaloo became international. In 2010, the "Vindaloo against Violence" campaign invited Australians to share a curry in a "stand against racial intolerance", which had included attacks on Indian students there. ^{[26] [27]} The dish was introduced to Hong Kong when it was a British colony. In 2020 the food and beverage manager of the region's Aberdeen Boat Club described vindaloo as one of its most commonly ordered dishes. ^[17] Pork vindaloo can according to the Guide Michelin be found in restaurants in Tokyo, Japan. ^[28] The Swedish Meat organisation (Svenskt Kött) proposes "Vindaloo – Indian stew with lamb shoulder" on its website. ^[29] A study of Indian food in America found that restaurants could offer dishes like "Goan Spiced Maine Crab cake", which it described as "a far cry" from standard pork vindaloo as "differentiated restaurants [break] new ground". ^[30]

• 
  Chicken vindaloo, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2009
• 
  Lamb vindaloo, Helsinki, Finland, 2011
• 
  Prawn vindaloo, Göttingen, Germany, 2021
• 
  Vindalho, Tokyo, Japan, 2025

In popular culture

The 1998 Fat Les song "Vindaloo" is named for the curry. ^[31] The actor and songwriter Keith Allen stated that the dish was appropriate for the sort of song that a "right-wing lout" would like. ^[32]

References

1. Collingham 2006, pp. 66–69.
2. Menon, Smitha (23 June 2020). "How did the Goan vindaloo get to you?". Condé Nast Traveller.
3. Taylor, Anna-Louise (11 October 2013). "Curry: Where did it come from?". BBC Food. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
4. R.S. Whiteway, (1899) Rise of Portuguese Power in India, p.224 Archived 14 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine
5. De Souza, Teotonio R. (1990). Goa Through the Ages. Goa University Publications Series No. 6. Vol. 2: An Economic History. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. p. 214. ISBN   978-81-7022-259-0. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
6. "Vinha-d'alhos". Priberam (Portuguese Dictionary). Retrieved 27 November 2020.
7. Peters-Jones, Michelle. "Indian Classics – Vindalho de Galinha (Chicken Vindaloo)". The Tiffin Box. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
8. Deravian, Naz (13 December 2023). "Chicken Vindaloo". NYT Cooking . Retrieved 17 December 2023.
9. "How to cook a vindaloo – students learn from the best". University of West London. Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
10. Iyer 2022, p. 141 "Playing with Fire".
11. Collingham 2006, pp. 49–53.
12. Manon, Smitha (23 June 2020). "How did the Goan vindaloo get to you?". Condé Nast Traveler . Retrieved 22 March 2021.
13. "Hindi/English/Tamil Glossary". Pravasidesi's Tiffin box. 25 September 2007. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
14. Collingham 2006, p. 170.
15. Dawe, W. H. (1888). "Vindaloo or Bindaloo—A Portuguese Kárhí". The Wife's Help to Indian Cookery: being a Practical Manual for Housekeepers. London: Elliot Stock. p. 65.
16. Collingham 2006, p. 154.
17. Mathur, Bhakti (28 September 2020). "The history of vindaloo, loved in Britain: why India has Portuguese explorers to thank for the famous hot curry". South China Morning Post . Retrieved 11 April 2025.
18. "Vindaloo". The Foods of England Project. Glyn Hughes. 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
19. Iyer 2022, p. 142 "British Curry House Vindaloo".
20. Chapman 2004, pp. 118–121.
21. Cloake, Felicity (21 June 2020). "Duck vindaloo". The Wine Society. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
22. Collingham 2006, p. 225.
23. "Vindaloo". British Curry Day. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
24. Collingham 2006, p. 221.
25. Collingham 2006, p. 236.
26. Rockower, Paul S (2012). "Recipes for gastrodiplomacy". Place Branding and Public Diplomacy. 8 (3): 235–246. doi:10.1057/pb.2012.17.
27. Bryant, Nick (24 February 2010). "Vindaloo against violence". BBC. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
28. "Katchar Batchar". Guide Michelin . Retrieved 23 December 2025. From the north, butter chicken; from the west, pork vindaloo; shrimp curry from the south – such a lineup of flavours from every region of India adds breadth to the joy that is Indian cooking.
29. "Vindaloo – indisk gryta med lammbog" [Vindaloo – Indian stew with lamb shoulder] (in Swedish). Svenskt Kött. Archived from the original on 22 January 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
30. Josiam, Bharath M.; Monteiro, Prema A. (1 January 2004). "Tandoori tastes: perceptions of Indian restaurants in America" (PDF). International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 16 (1): 18–26. doi:10.1108/09596110410516525 . Retrieved 23 December 2025.
31. Edwards, Allan (2007). "Vindaloo". Curry Addicts. Allan Edwards. Archived from the original on 21 November 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2021. Vindaloo - the classic "hot" restaurant curry, a favorite for the boys night out
32. Allen, Keith (2008). Grow Up. pp. 346–347. ISBN   978-0091910716.

Sources

• Chapman, Pat (2004). The New Curry Bible. London, UK: Metro Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84358-087-4.
• Collingham, Elizabeth M. (2006). Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors . Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-517241-8.
• Iyer, Raghavan (2022). On the Curry Trail: Chasing the Flavor That Seduced the World. New York: Workman Publishing. ISBN   978-1523511211. OCLC   1374192575.