Vindaloo, a spicy and flavorful Portuguese-influenced Goan dish, is a beloved curry found on many Indian restaurant menus. My tried and tested recipe for chicken vindaloo will delight your taste buds with its perfectly balanced flavors.
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Why you will love this recipe?
- This
Instant Pot chicken vindaloo recipe is packed with flavor and is easy to prepare. - It can also be adjusted to suit individual preferences. For example, reduce the chilies to make the curry milder.
- The taste and flavor are way better than your favorite takeaway vindaloo. Make
Instant Pot chicken lamb at home that is better than any takeaway.
Ingredients
Chicken: Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this
Spices: The whole spices that go into making the masala base are dried chili, whole coriander seeds, whole cumin, cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves, and black pepper. Ground turmeric is used when making the curry.
Souring agents: Both vinegar and tamarind paste are used in the masala paste. White wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar can be used.
Aromatics: Ginger and garlic are used in the masala paste. Onion is used when making the curry. Red or yellow onion can be used.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: To a blender, add the vindaloo paste ingredients - whole red chilies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, fresh ginger, garlic, vinegar, and tamarind paste. Add ¾ cup of water and grind into a smooth paste (images 1 and 2).
Step 2: In a large bowl, add the chicken pieces. Pour the ground vindaloo paste and mix well. Let the chicken marinate for at least 30 minutes. You can also marinate it overnight in the refrigerator (images 3 and 4).
Step 3: Heat oil and add the onions. Saute for 5 minutes until the onion begins to brown. Add ground turmeric. sugar, and salt (images 5 and 6).
Step 4: Next, add the marinated chicken and saute for 3 minutes (images 7 and 8).
Step 5: Add ½ cup of water. Mix well and deglaze the pot. Cancel saute mode and set the
Step 6: Do 5 minutes of natural pressure release, then do a quick release. Top with cilantro and serve (images 11 and 12).
Expert Tips
Use Kashmiri red chili (or any dried chili that is mild). It gives a nice and bright color to the curry yet does not make it too hot. To increase the heat level of the curry, use regular red chili powder or cayenne pepper as per your taste.
This dish works best with boneless and skinless chicken thigh pieces that are cut into medium-sized pieces (1.5-2-inch pieces). If you want to use chicken breast, then adjust the cooking time to 4 minutes (instead of 5) and do a quick release of pressure.
The beauty of this homemade vindaloo is that you can choose the type of meat that you like. Follow this authentic chicken vindaloo recipe and replace chicken with lamb or pork to make lamb vindaloo and pork vindaloo. In that case, pressure cook for 15 minutes (instead of 5).
Also, check out this recipe to make sheet pan chicken thighs for a quick and healthy one-pan meal.
Serving suggestions
This authentic chicken vindaloo can also be served with naan, jeera rice, or Basmati rice. It also pairs well with ladi pav (eggless dinner rolls).
Finish the meal with a glass of chilled mango lassi or sweet lassi to balance the heat. You can also serve this curry with cauliflower rice for a delicious Indian keto meal.
Recipe FAQs
Traditionally, it is made spicy. While there are lots of spices used in making it, the heat from chilies can be adjusted as per your preference. Add more or fewer chili peppers to make authentic vindaloo curry with the right amount of heat to suit your taste buds.
You can use any protein of your choice. The masala base remains the same while the cooking time varies. Making it with chicken is very popular but any other red meat like lamb, goat, pork, etc. can be used. Make a vegetarian version of vindaloo by using paneer.
To make vindaloo chicken in a slow cooker, do the prep and saute the onions and meat in a
If you tried this Chicken Vindaloo Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Recipe card
Chicken Vindaloo
Ingredients
For vindaloo paste:
- 8 dried red chili (Kashmiri or any mild version)
- 2 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 5 cloves
- 4 cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- 2 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
- ¾ cup water
For the curry:
- 2 lb chicken thigh boneless, skinless
- 4 tablespoon oil
- 1 large onion
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoon cilantro
Instructions
Make vindaloo paste and marinate:
- To a blender, add the vindaloo paste ingredients - dried red chili, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, ginger, garlic, vinegar, and tamarind paste.
- Add ¾ cup of water and grind into a smooth paste.
- In a large bowl, add the chicken pieces. Pour the ground paste and mix well.
- Let the chicken marinate for at least 30 minutes. You can also marinate it overnight in the refrigerator.
Making the curry:
- Set the Instant Pot in saute mode and add oil.
- Once it heats, add the onions. Saute for 5 minutes, until the onion begins to brown.
- Add ground turmeric. sugar, and salt.
- Add the marinated chicken and saute for 4-5 minutes.
- Add ½ cup of water. Mix well and deglaze the pot.
- Cancel saute mode and set the Instant Pot to pressure cook mode for 5 minutes.
- Do a natural release of pressure for 5 minutes, then do a quick release.
- If the curry is too thin, set the Instant Pot back to saute mode for 4-5 minutes.
- Top with cilantro and serve.
nancy says
love this spicy Portuguese-influenced chicken dish. super saucy and great with rice
Mallory says
Love this in the instant pot! So easy and delicious!
Shelby says
This comes out so flavorful but was really easy to make!
Jess says
Such a tasty recipe!
Natalie says
I marinated the meat over night, and it was one of the best chicken recipes I tried. Simple and delicious, thanks!
Katie says
Great recipe! made it for my mom when she came to visit and she requested the recipe after one bite haha!
Traci says
The flavors of this recipe were just amazing! Absolutely loved this and am excited to make it again!
Karen Kelly says
Love the flavors going on in this dish and so easy to make in the Instant Pot. Even my teens liked it!
Shelby says
Ohh this vindaloo comes out so comforting! And I love that little spicy kick!
Gina says
I've had tamarind paste on hand for months not knowing what to do with it. Made this once I saw it in the ingredient list and loved it! So much flavor yet still easy enough to make at home.
Lisa Douglas says
Wow, you made this SO easy for a newbie to masala and curries! So flavorful and easy in the Instant Pot! Excited to try more now and add this to our dinner rotation, thank you!
Kristy says
I'm a big fan of spicy dishes, and this recipe turned out a whole lot better than I expected!
Shilpa Kerur says
Hi Kristy, That's awesome and I am glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Thank you for your feedback.
- Shilpa