Vindaloo Paste
A tangy, fiery Goan-style paste of apple cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, paprika, cayenne, and warm spices that marinates pork and becomes the sauce of a vindaloo.
Why you'll love Vindaloo Paste
This is the paste behind the Pork Vindaloo. Vindaloo comes from Goa on India's west coast, where Portuguese pork cooked with vinegar and garlic met Indian chiles and spices. The paste carries all of it: vinegar for the tang, garlic and ginger for depth, paprika for the deep red color, cayenne for heat, and cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper for warmth.
Vinegar does two jobs. Its acid works on the surface of the pork while it marinates, and it gives vindaloo its signature tang. The salt in the paste seasons the meat the whole time it sits, moving deeper the longer it has. Blending everything until completely smooth means the spices coat every piece evenly and melt into the sauce as it cooks.
The paste goes into the pot with the pork and cooks with it, so the marinade becomes the sauce. It takes five minutes in a blender in the morning or the night before, and dinner is mostly done.
Quick overview: This Vindaloo Paste comes together in 10 min and makes 4 servings, each about 2 tablespoons (makes about 1/2 cup, enough for 2 lb pork shoulder). You'll need a blender.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne, or to taste
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- a pinch of ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Blend the paste: Put the garlic and ginger in a small blender first, close to the blade, then add the vinegar, paprika, cayenne, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and salt. Blend until completely smooth, scraping down the sides once or twice. The vinegar is the only liquid, and garlic and ginger at the bottom break down first and give the dry spices something to catch on.
- Taste for heat: Taste a tiny bit now, before any raw meat touches it. The heat level is set here: 1 teaspoon of cayenne makes a properly hot vindaloo, and you can blend in a little more for hotter or start with 1/4 teaspoon next time for mild.
- Marinate the pork: Toss 2 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces, with the paste in a glass, ceramic, or stainless bowl until every piece is red. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours. Two hours seasons the surface, and overnight gives the salt time to move deeper into each piece. Vinegar reacts with aluminum and bare cast iron and gives the meat a metallic taste, so marinate in glass, ceramic, or stainless.
- Cook the marinade with the meat: Add the pork and every bit of its paste to the browned onions and cook it as the vindaloo recipe directs. The marinade that touched raw pork goes into the dish and cooks at high pressure along with it, and that cooking is what makes it safe to eat as the sauce.
- Handle leftover marinade safely: Marinade that has touched raw meat is thrown out, or brought to a full rolling boil for at least 1 minute, before it is used as a sauce on its own. If you want extra paste to stir in at the end, set it aside before the pork goes in.
Storage and leftovers
Refrigerate the paste in a covered glass jar for up to 4 days before it touches meat. The garlic sharpens and the vinegar mellows as it sits.
Freeze it in an ice cube tray, move the cubes to a freezer bag, and keep them for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and rub it over the pork in the morning.
Variations
- Milder: Use 1/4 teaspoon cayenne and add 1 more teaspoon paprika to keep the deep red color.
- Toasted spices: Warm the cumin, coriander, and pepper in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for 30 to 60 seconds, until fragrant, and let them cool before blending, for a rounder, nuttier paste.
- Chicken or lamb: The paste suits boneless chicken thighs and lamb shoulder too. Marinate chicken 2 to 12 hours and lamb 2 to 24 hours, and use the cooking times in the vindaloo recipe's variations.
- With dried chiles: Soak 2 dried ancho chiles in hot water for 20 minutes, stem and seed them, and blend them in place of half the paprika for a deeper, fruitier red.
Notes and tips
- Use glass or stainless: Turmeric and paprika stain plastic, and vinegar reacts with aluminum. Glass, ceramic, or stainless keeps both the bowl and the flavor clean.
- Peel the garlic fast: Crush each clove lightly with the flat of a knife and the skin slips off. The blender does the chopping.
- Wash up right away: Turmeric stains fingers and cutting boards yellow, and it comes off most easily while it is fresh.
- Make a double batch: Freeze the extra in cubes, and the next vindaloo starts with the paste already made.
Nutrition and mindful eating
- Garlic and ginger are the backbone of the paste, and blended raw they bring a sharp, warm depth that mellows into the sauce as it cooks.
- Turmeric's main compound, curcumin, lowers inflammation, and the black pepper in the same paste helps your body absorb more of it: piperine in pepper slows how quickly the body breaks curcumin down, and the coconut oil the pork cooks in helps too, since curcumin dissolves in fat.
- Vinegar carries the tang that defines vindaloo, and its acidity makes rich pork shoulder taste bright.
- Cayenne is where the heat lives, so the amount you blend in sets how hot the finished dish will be.
- As you eat, notice how the tang and heat of the paste build with each bite of pork, and check in a few hours later on whether a bowl of pork and vegetables seasoned this deeply holds you steady until your next meal.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this Vindaloo Paste? Start here, with the questions people ask most.
How long can the pork marinate?
At least 2 hours and up to 24 hours, covered, in the refrigerator. Two hours seasons the surface, and overnight gives the salt time to move deeper into the meat.
Is it safe to cook the pork in its marinade?
Yes. In vindaloo the paste goes into the pot with the pork and cooks at high pressure, which takes it well above boiling. Marinade that has touched raw meat becomes safe only by cooking, so any that will be used as a sauce on its own gets a full rolling boil for at least 1 minute, and the rest is thrown out.
Can I make it without a blender?
Yes. Grate the garlic and ginger on a fine rasp, then stir them into the vinegar with the ground spices and salt until smooth. A mortar and pestle works too and gives a slightly coarser paste.
How hot is it?
With 1 teaspoon cayenne it is properly hot, the way vindaloo is meant to be. Use 1/4 teaspoon for a mild version; the paprika keeps the color the same.
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