Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A highly seasoned dish of Indian origin made from meat or seafood cooked in a sauce of vinegar, red chilis, garlic, tamarind, and spices.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A blend of chilis, tamarind, ginger, cumin, and mustard seeds, originally from Goa.
  • noun A hot curry made with this spice.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Konkani (Indic language of western India) vindalu, from Portuguese vinha-d'alho, vinha-d'alhos, marinade or pickle for meat made of vinegar and garlic (via Goan Indo-Portuguese (Portuguese creole of Goa)) : vinho, wine (from Latin vīnum) + de, of (from Latin ; see de–) + alho, garlic (from Latin ālium, allium).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Probably from the Portuguese vin d’alho ("wine and garlic sauce"), from vinho ("wine") (whence the English vinho) + alho ("garlic"). Not related to aloo, but by confusion with this term the dish is often based on potatoes.

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Examples

  • I love Indian food and have been working up my heat tolerance but vindaloo is still beyond me at this point.

    Tried & True Goan Style Vindaloo Laura 2009

  • LK - Healthy Delicious said ... vindaloo is my absolute favorite!

    Tried & True Goan Style Vindaloo Laura 2009

  • Like many dishes common to southern India, vindaloo is highly spices with mustard seed and chiles, which the Portuguese also brought along with them.

    Tigers & Strawberries » Vindaloo Voodoo 2005

  • Celine J. Marbeck, a Malacca-born Cristang and author of "Cuzinhia Cristang," a book on Malaccan-Portuguese cuisine, notes that the dish has many ingredients in common with the sour and fiery Goan curry called vindaloo including vinegar, dried chilies, garlic and turmeric.

    The Dish: Curry Debal 2008

  • The yoghurt is only there because the vindaloo was a bit too hot.

    vin·da·loo 2005

  • The yoghurt is only there because the vindaloo was a bit too hot.

    Archive 2005-12-01 2005

  • For someone who relishes spice, the go-to-dish is the chicken or lamb vindaloo, which is prepared with tangy and spicy sauces.

    Latest News 2009

  • I mean, really, I already like vindaloo, which is from Goa, which is in the south.

    Tigers & Strawberries 2009

  • For someone who relishes spice, the go-to-dish is the chicken or lamb vindaloo, which is prepared with tangy and spicy sauces.

    Latest News 2009

  • I really have no idea what the term means, except that this preparation is from the coastal state of Goa, the land that brings us those other exotic-sounding curries like the "vindaloo" and "cafreal".

    Archive 2007-03-01 Nupur 2007

Comments

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  • "In the early days, Europe's pioneers in the East had little choice but to assimilate, Portuguese, Dutch, and English alike eating Indian food and developing their own fusion cuisine, of which vindaloo is perhaps the classic example.* Whereas in the days of the Raj there evolved a parallel white man's cuisine, the dreadful white and brown sauces that still linger on in some of India's wealthy households and boarding schools....

    *The name derives from the Portuguese for 'wine' (vinho) and 'garlic' (d'alho): wine and garlic sauce. The dish is effectively Portuguese India on a plate, the pork and vinegar of Europe married with the ginger and cardamom of India."

    --Jack Turner, _Spice: The History of a Temptation_ (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004), 305

    December 6, 2016