I've never been a particular fan of fiery food. That's why I've always sidestepped vindaloo, which I thought topped the list of the Indian subcontinent's spiciest dishes. But it turns out that I'd been mistaken about this stew, at least in its original form.
The blazing-hot vindaloo often served at Indian restaurants in the United States and England is actually an offshoot of the original Goan version, which is composed of moist nuggets of pork braised to tenderness in their own juices and a fragrant paste of spices such as cinnamon and cardamom, mild dried Kashmiri chiles, and fresh ginger and garlic. Plenty of coconut vinegar (or sometimes tamarind) balances the rich pork, but the dish has little to no other liquid, so the potent, bright-red sauce thickly coats the meat. Rice, naan, or Goan pao, which are nearly identical to America’s soft, slightly sweet dinner rolls, are ideal companions. This sounded like a vindaloo I could get behind.
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