Enjoy this dairy-free and gluten-free Chicken Vindaloo with rice or naan for a satisfying dinner!
Vindaloo is a popular curry to order at restaurants, similar to Chicken Korma or Chicken Tikka Masala. The most common version of this curry is made with pork, however we will change it up and make Chicken Vindaloo.
Authentic vindaloo curry gets all of this flavor from chicken marinated in the freshly ground whole spices. So don’t skip that step when making this delicious curry!
We loved this Chicken Vindaloo. My daughter who is super fussy and does not typically like much spice in her food, devoured this chicken. She just cut it into pieces and enjoyed with a fork. So I am sure you will love this Chicken Vindaloo. Enjoy it with this delicious Mango Lassi.
Vindaloo comes from carne de vinha d’alhos, which literally means “meat in garlic wine marinade”. This was “Indianized” by the local Goan cooks with the substitution of vinegar for the red wine, and the addition of dried red chili peppers with additional spices.
Vindaloo has become synonymous with ‘super hot and spicy curry’. However in reality this curry is not the most spicy. Yes, we add lots of spices, however it does not have the heat as some other curries.
Some Misconceptions about Vindaloo Curry
- Vindaloo is a very spicy curry – Vindaloo curry gets a lot of this flavor from the whole spices that are blended to make a vindaloo sauce. With these whole spices, dry red chilies are added. However these chilies do not make the curry very hot.
- I like to add dry Kashmiri red chili's when making Vindaloo sauce. These chilies give a wonderful red color to the curry, but are mild. You can definitely add more or another variety of red chilies to make the curry spicier.
- Vindaloo has the word “aloo” in it. “Aloo” means potato in Hindi. You will find that many restaurants add potatoes to vindaloo curry. However the traditional recipe for vindaloo does not have any potatoes in it.
How to make Chicken Vindaloo in Pressure Cooker?
Now let’s see how to make this delicious vindaloo curry. If you are new to the instant pot (pressure cooker), check out this Instant Pot Quick Setup Guide to get you started.
The main steps are
- Making the vindaloo curry paste
- Marinating the chicken
- Making the curry
Making the Vindaloo Curry Paste
- Start with adding the dry whole spices to the pressure cooker – dry red kashmiri chilies, coriander seeds, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, peppercorns, cumin and mustard seeds.
- Turn on the pressure cooker on sauté mode and give the spices a stir.
- Sauté for about a minute until they are fragrant and slightly browned. Make sure they do not burn.
- Transfer the whole spices to a grinder.
- Add ginger, garlic, tamarind paste and vinegar. Vinegar adds a wonderful tangy taste to the curry. I used rice vinegar in this recipe.
- Grind to make a smooth paste. I added about 3/4 cup water when grinding.
Marinating the Chicken with Vindaloo Paste
- Cube chicken thighs to about 2 inch in size.
- Add the ground curry paste to the chicken.
- Mix well and refrigerate for 15 minutes to overnight.
Making the Pressure Cooker Vindaloo curry
- Start the pressure cooker in sauté mode and heat oil in it.
- Add onions and saute for about 4 minutes until they turn golden brown.
- Then add turmeric and salt.
- Add the marinated chicken and saute for 3 minutes, while stirring frequently.
- Mix in any remaining vindaloo paste from the marinade in 1/4 cup water, and add to the pressure cooker.
- Deglaze the pot. Make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom.
- Pressure cook for 5 minutes, then do a 5 minutes NPR. This means after the pressure cooker beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then do a quick release manually.
- Add brown sugar and stir in the curry.
Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!
Look at that color! Doesn’t it look gorgeous?
My daughter who is super picky, devoured this chicken. She did not even bother to dip the naan in it, she ate the chicken with a fork.
Perfect to enjoy even on weeknights!
Give this Chicken Vindaloo a try and do share how it turns out!
Recipe Video
Chicken Vindaloo - Authentic Pressure Cooker Recipe
Ingredients
For Vindaloo Paste
- 5 Whole Dried Kashmiri Red Chili Pepper
- 2 tbsp Coriander Seeds
- 5 Cloves (Laung)
- 1 inch Cinnamon (Dalchini)
- 3 Green Cardamom (Elaichi)
- 1/4 tsp Black Peppercorns
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds (Rai)
- 8 cloves Garlic
- 1 inch Ginger
- 2 tbsp Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Tamarind paste
- 3/4 cup Water
For the curry
- 4 tbsp Oil
- 2 cups Onions diced
- 1 lb Chicken thighs, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1/2 tsp Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1 tsp Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cup Water
- Cilantro to garnish
Instructions
Making the vindaloo curry paste
- Start with adding the dry whole spices to the pressure cooker – dry red kashmiri chilies, coriander seeds, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, peppercorns, cumin and mustard seeds.
- Turn on the pressure cooker on sauté mode and give the spices a stir. Sauté for about a minute until they are fragrant and slightly browned. Make sure the spices do not burn.
- Transfer the whole spices to a grinder. Add ginger, garlic, tamarind paste and vinegar.
- Add 3/4 cup water and grind to a smooth paste.
Marinating the chicken with Vindaloo Paste
- Add chicken pieces to a bowl. Add the curry paste to the chicken. Mix well and refrigerate for 15 minutes to overnight.
Making the vindaloo curry
- Start the pressure cooker in sauté mode and heat oil in it.
- Add onions and saute for about 4 minutes until they turn golden brown.
- Add turmeric and salt.Add the marinated chicken and saute for 3 minutes, while stirring frequently.
- Mix in any remaining vindaloo paste from the marinade in 1/4 cup water, and add to the instant pot. Deglaze the pot and make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom.
- Pressure cook for 5 minutes, then do a 5 minutes NPR. This means after the pressure cooker beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then do a quick release manually.
- Add brown sugar and stir in the curry.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with rice, naan or roti.
Notes
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Another gorgeous dish for me to make. How do you do the pot in pot please. Thank you
Hi Joanne – Here is a recipe where I do pot-in-pot rice with chicken – https://pipingpotcurry.com/instant-pot-chicken-tikka-masala/. The same method to add rice will work in this recipe.
Meeta, your recipes are always amazing! I consider myself a good home cook and cook a lot with or without recipes. Any recipe can be hit or miss…except for yours. They always work out great! I am not Indian, but love Indian foods and have amassed a pretty good stash of spices. I rarely have to purchase special ingredients because you call for things within the “normal” range of what a proficient home cook uses. I love being able to cook authentic Indian food that is healthy, fresh, and delicious.
I made the vindaloo tonight (marinated the chicken overnight) and even with a few substitutions, it came out great. I only had Chinese dried whole chilis, so I used three of those. I did not have tamarind paste on hand, so used extra apple cider vinegar and lime juice. So good, and can’t wait to try again with tamarind.
Thanks!
Emily
Hi Emily – I am so glad to hear you are enjoying the recipes. Thank you for sharing back your experience and the substitutions you made in this recipe.
Hello Meeta,
Thanks for all the wonderful recipes, I’m a beginner cook and have been loving all your instant pot recipes. For this Vindaloo recipe, if I wanted to add potatoes to my curry how would that change the recipe and the time? and what stage do I have to add the potatoes in the curry? And how do you make tamarind paste?
And also, if I wanted to use lamb instead of chicken in this vindaloo, how would that change the process and the cooking time?
Thanks and looking forward to hearing from you/more instant pot recipes on your blog! <3
Hello Deepika – Here is a tamarind paste recipe from my friend Neena – https://www.paintthekitchenred.com/how-to-make-tamarind-paste-instant-pot/. To add potatoes, cut them in large pieces about 2 inch, and add just before putting the pot to pressure cook. The same cooking time will work.
If using lamb, I would suggest to pressure cook for 15 minutes. In that case, I would not suggest to add potatoes as they will overcook in the cooking time.
Hope you enjoy this and more recipes
Hi! 🙂 The recipe looks really nice, but unfortunately I don’t have a pressure cooker. How would you adapt this to work for stovetop (or slow cooker)? Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hi Anneloss – You can surely make this vindaloo on the stovetop. Follow the same steps and in place of pressure cooking, cover the pan and cook on medium-low flame for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Hope you enjoy it!
Is there a good substitute for tamarind paste? Cant find that at any stores near me.
Hi Gillian – You can use lime juice in the recipe in place of tamarind. However the taste will not be exactly the same. It will still be very good 🙂
What kinda of grinder/blender are you using for the whole spices? The flavor was great, but my grinder just didn’t cut it and my paste wasn’t that nice red color.
Hi Rebecca – I use a vitamix for all my blending, grinding needs. Spice grinder or coffee grinders work well too for spices. The red color is mainly with the kashmiri red chili’s, you can find these on Amazon or at a local Indian grocery store. Glad you enjoyed the flavor of the vindaloo.
Do the dry spices cook in ghee or oil before blending or just dry in the instant pot?
Hi Kim – No oil needed for cooking the dry spices. Just dry roast them in the pot. I have also included a video for the recipe just about the recipe card, which might be helpful 🙂