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Pork vindaloo

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Okay so it's Sunday but no roasting today, late night last night and I fancy some SPICE, so we're ditching the roast and having a Pork Vindaloo Curry made with just over 1/3 of a joint of shoulder pork. I bought a 1.5kg joint, removed the skin, sliced off some 2cm steaks and then diced them into small 2cm cubes. Now you are going to take a look at the ingredients list for my Pork Vindaloo Curry and think I'm nuts and be somewhat put off the thought of making it! I am obviously NUTS but stay with me here. Daunted? Don't be, it's actually a very simple curry if you're organised. Approach it step by step, have everything out on the surface, grab some little pots to hold your measured spices and ingredients, but above all else: remain calm ;-) This is a heavily spiced curry, it's flavour packed with spices and the unique taste of Kashmiri chillies, garlic and white wine vinegar make this an unforgettable dining experience. I use a similar base for Roast Pork Vindaloo as well as my Roast Chicken Vindaloo, the difference is; fresh meat needs nurturing as it does not have the umami flavours of roasted pork. But we're gonna fix that!

So, my Pork Vindaloo Curry with fresh shoulder of pork. This is a recipe that I have created after many years of trying different things, but after I came across an old recipe for Portuguese Pork from the south-west of India, I finally realised what ingredients had been missing from my Pork Vindaloo curry!

Tit-bit: the name Vindaloo comes from the Portuguese words for wine and garlic, which are dominant flavours of this curry created by Indian chefs for the Portuguese during the colonial years 1505 to 1961.

Click the Method tab below to see a step by step guide with pictures.

vindaloo cooked

ingredients

Here's what you need :¬)

Serves 4 to 6

To cook with onions

  • 3 Tblsp oil
  • 1 medium white onions sliced
  • 2 medium white onions diced
  • 2 Tblsp garlic paste
  • 1 Tblsp ginger paste

whole spices

  • 2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
  • 1/2 tsp nigella (black onion seeds)
  • 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 1/2 tsp black pepper corns
  • 1 tsp coarse sea salt

ground spices

  • 1 1/2 tsp extra hot chilli powder
  • 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp turmeric

seasoning

  • 1 tsp table salt - to taste
  • 1 tsp sugar - to taste

wet ingredients

  • 2 x 400ml tins of plum tomatoes pulped
  • 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar*

*Note: the quality of the white wine vinegar makes a difference. I find a Chardonnay adds a real depth of flavour as well as the acidity, but, if you can't find that, use what you can get hold of.

Meat

  • 570g approx of diced pork

Note: Buying a joint of pork, as I suggest in this recipe, costs far less than buying pre-packed diced meat - because the manufacturer has to pay someone to cut it up for you of course. I can make three dishes each serving at least four people per dish with the 1.5kg shoulder joint that I bought. The joint cost me £6 @ £3.79/kilo. That's twelve hungry mouths I can feed for six quid! So check out the price of the pre-packed next time you are in the supermarket and think twice before buying it!

method

There are a few steps needed to make my Pork Vindaloo, but as long as we organise ourself it's no problem, so let's set to it!

Here's a picture of my ingredients ready to go:

dont panic image
pork vindaloo ingredients
ingredients

brown the onions

Once you have all the ingredients ready put your onions on to brown, as it is going to take about 20 minutes to get them to a golden brown colour that we need.

  1. Take a heavy bottomed wok put it on med-high
  2. Allow the pan to heat up
  3. Add 3 Tblsp of oil to the pan
  4. When shimmering, add the onions

Don't be tempted to stir them constantly, just keep your eye on them while you prepare your spices:

toast the whole spices

  1. Heat a small flat bottomed pan to a med-high heat
  2. Tip in the whole spices to toast them
  3. Shake the pan occasionally to move the spices around
  4. Don't let them burn, keep moving them around.

When the spice aromas fill the air, tip them into a cold pot and allow them to cool completely.

  1. Tip the whole spices into a grinder
  2. Grind down to a fine powder

You can use a pestle and mortar and some muscle power if you don't have a grinder to hand

  1. Check your onions & turn gently
  2. Turn the heat down a notch if needed
  3. Combine all the ground spices into a pot
  4. Check your onions!

prepare the meat

You need a large very sharp chef's knife for this: chef knife Take the pork joint & pat it dry with paper kitchen towel.

  1. Cut the strings holding the joint together
  2. Carefully remove the skin from the joint
  3. Take as little fat off the meat as possible

Removing the skin is a bit like removing the skin from a fish. Get hold of one edge of the skin and score the fat underneath it to make a flap of skin that you can hold onto. Then, roll the joint over so that it is skin-side-down. Take hold of the skin flap with your knife blade as close to the skin as possible and then wiggle the skin backwards and forwards while pulling it at the same time. Your knife should cut through the fat easily but leave as much fat on the meat as possible, this will add lots of flavour to the dish.

Put the skin aside when removed - you could make crackling later if you like.

  1. Cut about 3 x 2cm thick steaks off the joint
  2. Cut the steaks into 2cm thick strips
  3. Cut the strips into 2cm cubes
pork diced
pork diced

So our onions are done 20 minutes of your life has passed but we are now onto a roll....

  1. Set your hob to med heat
  2. Add the ginger & garlic paste to your onions
  3. Stir to combine, fry gently for 2-3 mins
  4. Add the ground spices, stir to combine
  5. Fry until spice aromas fill the room about 2-3mins
  6. Push everything to one side of the pan
  7. Turn the heat up to high with the onion, spice mixture off the heat*

*You can set the onion & spice mixture to the side in a dish if you are afraid of burning them. I actually set mine aside with the first batch of browned pork

Browning the pork

Brown the pork in 3 batches so that it doesn't take the heat out of the pan & begin to stew. If the pan doesn't remain hot, the meat will release water. We want to melt the fat from the pork & not release the water, this needs a very hot pan to make it happen.

  1. With your pan hot on highest heat
  2. Spread 1/3 of the diced pork in the empty side of the pan
pork browning with onions & spices
pork browning 1
  1. Leave to brown thoroughly
  2. Turn the pork over & leave to brown
browning the other side of the pork
pork browning 2

Tip the browned meat into a bowl to rest with the onion and spice mixture

  1. Put the pan back on the heat and allow to get hot
  2. Put another 1/3 of the meat into the pan to brown
  3. Set to the side to rest when done
  4. Repeat for the third batch
  5. Allow the meat to rest for about 10 mins.

When your meat has rested:

  1. Set the pan on med-high heat
  2. Return the meat, onions and spice mix to the pan
  3. Stir fry for about 2-3mins to combine the flavours
pork mixed with the onions and spices
pork onions and spices mixed in the pan
  1. Add the pulped tomatoes, stir and combine.
  2. Add your white wine vinegar.
add the tomatoes and white wine vinegar
tomatoes added to pan

Once the curry starts to bubble with heat:

  1. Turn the heat down to low-med & stir
  2. Cover and simmer very gently for 1 hour on low heat

Note: If you boil the curry for an hour the meat will become tough as old boots boots image So, simmer, simmer slowly so you can just see the odd bubble or two coming to the surface.

to finish the curry

Taste the curry sauce on a spoon, then take another bit and sprinkle with a little salt. If it tastes better than the first spoonful add ONE LEVEL teaspoon of table salt and stir well. If it's gone a little bit too far (a little too salty) add ONE LEVEL teaspoon of white sugar, mix well and taste again. It should now be perfect!

pork vindaloo ready
vindaloo cooked 1

Tip To cool the curry quickly I set my curry into a plastic pot and put it on top of a frozen block - The one that goes in my bag for chillin' drinks in the summer heat while we're out watching cricket in the sun.

Put it into the fridge once cold and allow the magic to happen, the meat will take in all the flavours of the gravy over night and everything will just mature like a good well very good curry should :¬P

serving suggestion
pork vindaloo basmati rice and naan plated
Pork Vindaloo, Basmati Rice & Naan