The Greatest Pork Vindaloo
Prep
30m
Cook
90m
Total
120m
Bigly says
Sit down for this one. Pork vindaloo. The ORIGINAL vindaloo, the way it was meant to be — and here's what nobody tells you: vindaloo is a PORK dish. Pork. Pig. Originally. The Portuguese sailors brought wine and garlic and pork to Goa, and the Goans took it and they ran with it, they added the chilies, the cumin, the cinnamon, the FIRE — and then somewhere along the way the rest of the world said 'let's do this with chicken' and a great injustice was committed. A crime against pig. Pork is the soul of vindaloo. Chicken is a tourist. Lamb is confused. Pork knows where it's going. Pork was THERE.
My grandmother — and she was a tough woman, she once chased a raccoon out of a kitchen with a wooden spoon, true story, the raccoon never came back, the raccoon told other raccoons — my grandmother used to say the secret to any braise is patience and acid. Patience and acid. She didn't make vindaloo, she made pot roast, but the principle TRANSCENDS the dish. You marinate the pork in vinegar and spice paste overnight, you let the acid pull the flavor INTO the meat instead of just sitting on the outside like a coward. Most so-called Indian restaurants skip this. They marinate for fifteen minutes and call it a day. Fifteen minutes! Embarrassing. An insult to vinegar.
Now the heat. Let's talk about the heat. People are afraid of vindaloo, they think it's just a pain delivery system, they think it's a dare — wrong. WRONG. Real vindaloo is hot, sure, but the heat is the LAST thing you taste. First you get the toasted spice, then the vinegar tang, then the deep slow burn at the back of the throat that makes you reach for the rice and the cold beer and the will to live. That's the journey. That's the masterclass. Most chefs are afraid of this dish. They water it down. They get scared. I do not get scared. I have eaten more pork vindaloo than any person alive, hand on heart, you can ask anyone. Tremendous.
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbboneless pork shoulder, cut in 1.5-inch cubes(shoulder only — loin is too lean, it will turn to sawdust)
- 1 tbspcumin seeds
- 1 tbspcoriander seeds
- 1 tspblack peppercorns
- 8whole cloves
- 5green cardamom pods
- 1 (2-inch)cinnamon stick
- 1 tspblack mustard seeds
- 10dried Kashmiri red chilies, stemmed and seeded(for color and a long, mellow heat)
- 3dried hot red chilies (arbol)(adjust to your spice tolerance)
- 12garlic cloves
- 3-inch piecefresh ginger, peeled
- 1/2 cupapple cider vinegar(the SOUL — do not substitute)
- 1 tspground turmeric
- 2 tspkosher salt
- 1.5 tbspbrown sugar
- 1/4 cupneutral oil (mustard or vegetable)
- 2large yellow onions, finely chopped
- 3 tbsptomato paste
- 1.5 cupswater or low-sodium chicken stock
- 2bay leaves
- 3 tbspfresh cilantro, chopped (for garnish)
- as neededbasmati rice or naan (for serving)
Steps
- 1
Toast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, and mustard seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan, until fragrant. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
- 2
In the same skillet, toast the Kashmiri and arbol chilies for 20-30 seconds per side, just until they puff slightly. Do not burn.
- 3
Break the chilies into pieces and add to a blender with the toasted whole spices, garlic, ginger, vinegar, turmeric, salt, and brown sugar. Blend to a smooth paste, adding a splash of water if needed.
- 4
In a large bowl, combine the pork with two-thirds of the spice paste. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
- 5
Heat the oil in a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook 12-15 minutes, stirring often, until deeply browned at the edges.
- 6
Stir in the tomato paste and the reserved spice paste. Cook 3-4 minutes until the oil separates and the mixture darkens.
- 7
Add the marinated pork and any clinging marinade. Stir to coat and cook 6-8 minutes, letting the meat pick up color.
- 8
Add the water or stock and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to low.
- 9
Cook 60-75 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pork is fork-tender and the sauce has thickened. Add a splash of water if it tightens too much.
- 10
Uncover for the final 10 minutes to reduce the sauce until it coats the meat. Taste and adjust salt and vinegar — it should be sharp, deep, and warming.
- 11
Discard the bay leaves. Garnish with cilantro and serve over basmati rice with naan.
One more thing
Slice the leftovers — if there are any, which there won't be, but in the theoretical world where there are — and put them in a sandwich the next day. Crusty roll, a smear of yogurt, some pickled onions, you've got a sandwich that will make grown adults stop talking mid-sentence. Pork vindaloo is the dish that puts every other curry on notice. The chicken vindaloo people are going to be MAD. They can be mad. They were wrong the whole time. Tremendous.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about The Greatest Pork Vindaloo.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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