Vindaloo

Pork marinated in palm vinegar and garlic, and the vinegar is the dish rather than the heat.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg pork shoulder, in large cubes
• 200 ml palm vinegar, or cider vinegar
• 20 cloves garlic
• 10 dried red chillies
• a 5 cm piece of ginger
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 6 cloves
• a 5 cm stick of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 200 ml water

Method

1. PORK MARINATED IN PALM VINEGAR AND GARLIC, AND THE VINEGAR IS THE DISH RATHER THAN THE HEAT. Its article takes the name apart and the name is the recipe: vindaloo derives from carne de vinha d'alhos, MEAT IN GARLIC WINE, and vindalho is A DISH OF PORK MARINATED IN VINEGAR AND GARLIC -- adapted by local cooks with THE SUBSTITUTION OF PALM VINEGAR FOR THE WINE, and the addition of spices. So vinegar and garlic are not seasonings here, they are the two things the name itself lists, and twenty cloves of garlic in two hundred millilitres of vinegar is what that means.
2. IT IS NOT THE BRITISH DISH AND ITS ARTICLE SEPARATES THEM. From the 19th century the Portuguese-Indian dish was ADAPTED WITHIN ANGLO-INDIAN CUISINE, and as a post-war restaurant dish it became THE CURRY TO EAT AFTER PUB CLOSING TIME, whose clientele then DEMONSTRATED ITS MACHISMO. That one is defined by heat. This one is defined by sourness, and ten chillies for six people is warm rather than fierce.
3. THE SPICES ARE GROUND IN THE VINEGAR, NOT IN WATER. Chillies, garlic, ginger, cumin, cloves, cinnamon and pepper blended with the whole two hundred millilitres. Vinegar is the grinding liquid and the marinade at once.
4. THE PORK MARINATES AT LEAST OVERNIGHT, AND TWO DAYS IS BETTER. Vinegar works slowly and this is also how the dish kept without refrigeration.
5. IT IS COOKED IN ITS OWN MARINADE, WITH LITTLE ELSE ADDED. Two hundred millilitres of water and no stock, no tomato, no coconut.
6. THE SUGAR IS TWO TEASPOONS AND IT IS NOT FOR SWEETNESS. It takes the hard edge off that much vinegar. Leave it out and the dish is harsh rather than sour.
7. THERE ARE NO ONIONS IN IT. Nothing in its article asks for them, and a browned onion base would soften the sourness the dish exists for.
8. IT SIMMERS SLOWLY FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF, UNCOVERED AT THE END. The vinegar has to reduce or it stays sharp and thin.
9. IT IS BETTER AFTER TWO DAYS IN THE FRIDGE. The acid goes on working and the dish settles.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes