Goan Pork Vindaloo Kit

Vindaloo’s marinade does most of the work — pork sits in vinegar-and-masala for 12-24 hours, then cooks fast. Freeze the pork already marinated and you skip the cure-day timing entirely. Drop frozen kit in cooker, dump, walk away. Vindaloo’s flavors deepen further during freezer storage.

Heat: 4/5. Traditional vindaloo level. See ## Tame it for milder versions.

Bag contents

• 1 kg paleta de porco (pork shoulder), cubed in 4cm pieces, fat kept on
• The masala (made and rubbed in — see below)
• 2 onions, finely sliced (added to bag, on top of masala)

Vindaloo masala

• 6 dried Kashmiri chiles, soaked 15 min (or middle-path: 2 tbsp Kashmiri chile powder + 2 dedo-de-moça secas; or 3 tbsp paprika doce + 1 tbsp paprika defumada + 1 tsp Cepera Mexicano)
• 8 garlic cloves
• 2cm piece ginger
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 6 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick (3cm)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 100ml red wine vinegar (palm vinegar if you can find it)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar (or jaggery)
• 1 tsp salt

Blend everything to a smooth thick paste. Should be the consistency of thick cream.

Prep day (Sunday assembly — ~5 min once masala is made)

1. Make masala. Soak chiles, blend with everything else.
2. Marinate the pork. Combine cubed pork with masala in a non-reactive bowl. Mix thoroughly so every piece is coated. (No need to wait — the bag does the marinating in the freezer.)
3. Bag. Tip pork + all masala into a 2-gallon zip bag. Add sliced onions on top.
4. Press out air. Squeeze flat.
5. Lay flat to freeze.
6. Label.

Label

Goan Pork Vindaloo — 2026-05-10
Serves 6
Heat: 4/5
Cook: PCC20 P14 (Carne) 30 min thawed / 40 min frozen
   OR P6 (Slow Cook) 8h
NO water added — pork releases enough liquid; reduce uncovered after if needed

Cook day

Pressure cooker (PCC20, P14 — Carne)

From frozen:

1. Dump frozen kit into PCC20. No additional water — vindaloo cooks in its own juices.
2. P14 (Carne), adjust to 40 minutes, high pressure. Natural release fully.
3. Open. Switch to P5 (Refogar) and reduce uncovered 10-15 minutes until the oil splits out and pools on top. This is the visual signal vindaloo is done.

From thawed (defrosted overnight):

1. Same method, 30 minutes pressure.

Slow cooker (PCC20, P6 — Cozimento Lento) — also works, milder result

1. Dump frozen kit into PCC20.
2. P6 (Cozimento Lento), 8h. (Programar Preparo for delayed start works here.)
3. After 8h, open and reduce uncovered 15 min on sauté mode until oil splits.

Slow-cook version is milder in heat and slightly less intense in flavor — the long gentle cook softens vindaloo’s sharpness. Both versions are excellent.

Tame it

Adjust at masala-making time:

• Heat 3: swap 3 of the 6 Kashmiri chiles for 3 ancho chiles (sweeter, milder)
• Heat 2: use 4 chiles total (2 Kashmiri + 2 ancho) and add 1 tbsp paprika doce
• Heat 1: 2 Kashmiri only + 2 tbsp paprika doce + ½ tsp Cepera Mexicano. Still vindaloo by structure, milder by chile.

Sub: bottled chiles only

Replace dried chiles in the masala with: 3 tbsp Cepera Mexicano + 1 tbsp Cepera Chipotle + 2 tbsp paprika doce + 1 tbsp tomato paste. Reduce salt to ½ tsp, vinegar to 60ml (the sauces add their own).

Serving

Steamed basmati rice, naan or fresh Goan poee bread (or French rolls). Cucumber salad with lime to cool. Cold beer (Heineken or Hoegaarden).

Notes

• Freezer-stored vindaloo is even better than fresh-marinated. The 24-hour-marinade rule becomes “however long it’s been in the freezer.” 1-3 months in the freezer = perfectly cured pork.
• Make 4-6 kits at once. Pork shoulder is the cheapest meat at the butcher; the masala is the time consumer. Once the spice paste is made, additional bags add 2 minutes each.
• Cross-reference: paleta-porco_goan-vindaloo.md for the from-scratch recipe and full method discussion.