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Chicken vindaloo is a spicy curry made with curry-cut chicken pieces marinated with aromatic spices and other ingredients like onions, tomatoes, dried red chilies, whole spices, garlic, ginger, wine vinegar etc. The steps to make chicken or murg vindaloo at home are described for you to learn in my simple recipe. Read on.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Chicken vindaloo is a widely loved Indian curry, especially popular in coastal regions.
It is best served with steamed rice, jeera rice, or plain paratha.

Chicken vindaloo has a spicy, tangy, and robust taste with deep notes of garlic and whole spices.
Other similar recipes are mutton vindaloo, fish vindaloo, chicken curry, and chicken xacuti.

The Ingredients:

To marinate the chicken:

500 grams chicken (with bones, curry-cut pieces)
Salt as required

To make the vindaloo masala:

4 pieces dry red chilies (whole, soaked in water)
1 tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tbsp coriander seeds (dhaniya)
½ tsp black peppercorns (kali mirch)
2 pieces green cardamom pods (hari elaichi)
6 pieces cloves (laung)
½ tbsp black mustard seeds (kali sarson)
1 piece cinnamon (dalchini, 1.5 inch stick, broken into two pieces)

1 piece ginger (adrak, 1 inch size, cut into smaller pieces)
15 pieces garlic cloves (lahsun, peeled, whole)
1 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder
30 ml wine vinegar

To cook chicken vindaloo:

2 pieces tomatoes (large size, roughly chopped)
2 pieces onions (medium size, finely chopped)
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp garlic (finely chopped)
½ tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
½ tsp sugar
1.5 cups water (warm)

I stumbled upon this recipe for chicken vindaloo in a rather unconventional way, when I was having a chat with a Goan neighbor I met at a local market. We were conversing on home cooking when she began telling me how her family made vindaloo using homemade spice powders and vinegar instead of paste concentrates. I took down all her instructions diligently when I returned home, but later incorporated this recipe with my own experience and a recipe file that I maintain as a handwritten notebook of old recipes with modifications and improvements along with time.

I made the dish the following weekend intending to surprise my husband and two sons. It turned out to be just as I wanted with the tangy smell of chicken filling the entire kitchen. My husband loved the taste and my sons said it is unique and requested me to make it more often. It was so pleasing and I felt proud and lucky to have learned this recipe.

How to Make Chicken Vindaloo? (Step by Step Guide with Images)

Step 1: Soak 4 pieces of whole red chilies in water for 2 to 3 hours.

Step 2: Take 1 tbsp of cumin seeds (jeera), 2 tbsp of coriander seeds (dhaniya), ½ tsp of black peppercorns (kali mirch), 2 pieces of green cardamom pods (hari elaichi), 6 pieces of cloves (laung), ½ tbsp of black mustard seeds (kali sarson), and 1 piece of cinnamon (dalchini, 1.5 inch stick, broken into two pieces) in a mixie jar and grind them to a fine powder.

Step 3: Now, add a piece of ginger (adrak, 1 inch size, cut into smaller pieces), 15 pieces of garlic cloves (lahsun, peeled, whole), the 4 soaked red chilies, 1 tbsp of Kashmiri red chili powder, and 30 ml of wine vinegar into the mixie jar and make a fine paste. Check the consistency.

Step 4: Take 500 grams of curry-cut chicken pieces with bones in a bowl and sprinkle some salt on them and mix nicely with the vindaloo masala paste. Keep it aside to marinate for about 3 hours.

Step 5: Now, take 2 pieces of large-sized tomatoes, chop them roughly, put them in the same mixie jar and make a paste. Keep it aside.

Step 6: Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a pan over a medium flame and fry 1 tbsp of finely chopped garlic for a minute. In the meantime, finely chop 2 pieces of medium-sized onions and add them to it. Fry them till golden before adding ½ tsp of turmeric powder (haldi) to it. Mix nicely and fry for another 20 seconds or so.

Step 7: Add the marinated chicken. Mix nicely, add salt and water as needed. Cover and let it cook for 6 to 7 minutes on a low heat.

Step 8: Now, add the blended tomato to it and mix nicely. When it boils, cover and cook for another 5 minutes on a low heat. Then cook on a high heat so that the excess water evaporates. Add ½ tsp sugar to balance the sourness of tomatoes.

Step 9: Add 1.5 cups of warm water to it. Mix well, cover, and cook for 10 more minutes on a low heat until it is done. Check the final consistency. It should be relatively thick as it will become thicker when it cools down. Transfer it to a bowl.