Vindaloo paste substitutes

The hottest of the standard jarred curry pastes, corrected for vindaloo's sourness and extra heat.

Best for

pork or lamb vindaloo, chicken vindaloo, potato and chickpea vindaloo, curry-night cooking with what the supermarket sells

The best supermarket route, because Madras paste already shares vindaloo's cumin, coriander, chilli and garlic backbone and is built to be hot. The two things it lacks are the sharp vinegar edge and the clove-and-cinnamon warmth. Add the vinegar with the paste so it cooks briefly and loses its raw bite, and stir a pinch of ground cloves in with it if you have any. Madras paste is usually milder than a real Goan vindaloo, so do not be shy with the cayenne, but add it in stages and taste.

The real thing, ground fresh, which is genuinely a ten-minute job with a blender.

Best for

pork vindaloo, the traditional version, the best-tasting result of anything on this list, controlling the heat exactly, marinating meat overnight before cooking

This is much better than a jar and worth the effort, because jarred pastes are diluted with oil, water and thickener and taste flat by comparison. Kashmiri chillies give a deep red colour with moderate heat; if you want a properly fierce vindaloo, swap two of them for hot dried chillies rather than adding more Kashmiri. Soaking the chillies is what lets them blend smooth, so do not skip it. Traditionally the meat is marinated in the paste overnight, and doing so makes an obvious difference to how deep the flavour goes.

The mildest and most widely stocked curry paste, pushed hotter and sourer.

Best for

when tikka paste is the only jar in the cupboard, chicken vindaloo, a milder vindaloo for people who cannot take the heat, vegetable and lentil versions

It will taste good, and it will also taste noticeably rounder and sweeter than a real vindaloo, because tikka paste is built on tomato, paprika and often coconut or almond, all of which soften the dish. Expect an orange-red, slightly creamy-tasting curry rather than a thin, sharp, mahogany one. The vinegar and cloves do most of the correcting; if you have tamarind paste, half a teaspoon adds the sour-fruity depth vindaloo has and tikka paste does not.

Any of the mid-strength British-Indian curry pastes, adjusted the same way.

Best for

using up whatever jar is open, lamb and pork, vegetable curries, when you want less heat than a true vindaloo

All three work on the same principle and none will embarrass you. Rogan josh paste brings more clove, cardamom and fennel, so the result tastes warmer and more Kashmiri; balti paste is closer to Madras with extra fenugreek leaf, which is pleasant; jalfrezi paste often includes green pepper and tomato and tastes fresher and tangier already, so you can cut the added vinegar to 2 teaspoons. All are milder than vindaloo, so the cayenne matters in every case.

Vindaloo assembled from dry spices when there is no paste of any kind in the house.

Best for

cooking with a basic spice rack, chicken, pork or potato vindaloo, cooks who do not want to buy a jar, adjusting the heat freely

A genuinely respectable curry, because the pillars of vindaloo, garlic, chilli, vinegar and warm spice, are all there. What is missing is the depth that comes from whole dried chillies ground into the paste: a curry powder base tastes brighter and thinner, with more turmeric and fenugreek than a Goan blend would ever have. Frying the paste in oil for two minutes before the meat goes in makes a big difference; done raw it tastes dusty and the vinegar stays harsh.

The least-bad non-Indian option, chosen because it is a chilli-garlic paste with real heat.

Best for

emergencies, lamb, which suits harissa well, vegetable and chickpea curries, cooks with a North African pantry

Be honest with yourself here: harissa is a very good paste that will make a hot, garlicky, red stew, but caraway and cumin dominate it and the result tastes Tunisian, not Goan. The garam masala pulls it toward India and the vinegar toward vindaloo, and with a squeeze of lime and some fresh coriander it holds together as a dish in its own right. Harissa varies enormously in heat by brand, so taste it first before deciding how much to use.