Quick answer
Vindaloo comes from the Portuguese carne de vinha d'alhos — meat in wine vinegar and garlic. In Goa it became pork marinated in vinegar (traditionally palm or coconut vinegar), garlic and dried Kashmiri red chillies with warm spices. It's tangy, deep red and garlicky; the fierce 'vindaloo' of curry houses abroad is a different thing.
Updated November 2026 · GoaPlace editors · facts checked against our own listingsHow it tastes
Sour from the vinegar, aromatic from garlic, cinnamon and cloves, and warm rather than scorching from Kashmiri chillies. It keeps well and tastes better a day later — which is why it's a feast-day and Christmas dish.
How to eat it
- With rice, or with Goan bread (poi) to mop up the gravy.
- Alongside sorpotel and sannas at Christmas and weddings.
- Chicken and prawn versions exist if you don't eat pork.
