Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Vindaye Poisson
Fried firm fish folded into a tangy, mustardy pickle of turmeric, mustard seeds, garlic, ginger and vinegar with barely-cooked onions, eaten with fresh bread or rice.
Mauritian · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 20 min
~518 cal · 34g protein · 11g carbs · 37g fat · 1g fiber · 3g sugars · 6g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Vindaye (from vin d’ail, wine of garlic, its Creole name softened over time) is one of Mauritius’s signature ways with fish: not a curry but a pickle, firm fried fish coated in a bright, sour, mustard-yellow sauce. It shares a root with the Pondicherry vindail and, distantly, the Goan vindaloo, but vinegar has taken the place of wine and the balance is all its own.
Firm-fleshed fish such as tuna or swordfish is fried in pieces, then folded through a sauce built from mustard seeds, turmeric, garlic and ginger loosened with plenty of vinegar. Onions go in near the end so they stay crunchy. Like a good pickle, it is better after a day or two in the fridge, and it keeps for a couple of weeks.
It is classic Mauritian gajak (snack) food, piled into a fresh baguette, but is just as good over plain rice with lentils.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
600 g firm fish (tuna or swordfish), in two-bite pieces
1 tbsp cornstarch (to dust the fish)
1/2 cup
2 medium onions, thickly sliced
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tbsp black or brown mustard seeds
2 tsp ground turmeric
1/3 cup white vinegar
3 to 4 green chilies, slit lengthwise
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Pat the fish dry, dust lightly with the cornstarch, and fry in the hot oil until just golden on both sides but not fully cooked through. Lift out and set aside.
✎ Chef’s note
Leaving the fish slightly underdone keeps it from drying out once it goes back into the sauce.
2
In the same oil, briefly fry the garlic and ginger, then add the mustard seeds and let them crackle.
✎ Chef’s note
Do not let the mustard seeds burn or the sauce turns bitter.
3
Stir the turmeric into the vinegar, pour it in with a splash of water and a good pinch of salt, and simmer to a loose, tangy sauce.
4
Return the fish to the pan with the onions and green chilies and fold gently to coat, cooking just a minute so the onions stay crunchy.
5
Cool, then transfer to a jar or dish and refrigerate. It is best after a day; serve with fresh baguette or rice.
Mauritian Creole tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Port Louis. Dholl puri came ashore with the people who made it. Indian indentured labourers were landed from 1834 at the Aapravasi Ghat here in Port Louis, now a World Heritage site, and the flatbread they brought is stuffed with ground split peas, cooked dry without oil, and served in pairs with butter bean curry and rougaille.
🗺️
Mauritius. Mauritius had no indigenous population at all, so the melting-pot description is literal rather than decorative: everyone on the island descends from someone brought or arrived, whether enslaved from Africa and Madagascar, indentured from India, migrant from China, or colonial from France and Britain. The cooking is the record of that, four traditions using the same tomatoes, chillies and coriander.
🌍
Africa. Much of what reads as timeless African cooking is younger than the Atlantic crossings. Maize, cassava, groundnut, chilli and tomato all arrived from the Americas after 1500 and pushed older crops aside; millet, sorghum, teff, yam and fonio are the ones that were already here, and the map still shows the join.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Mauritius
Dholl PuriFeather-soft flatbreads with ground split peas hidden in the dough, folded around bean curry and chutney.
RougailleA Creole tomato stew of Mauritius, simmered with thyme, ginger, and curry leaf around fish or sausage.
Farata with Butter Bean CurryFlaky griddled flatbread (farata) served with a light butter-bean curry, a popular Mauritian breakfast.
Browse all Mauritius recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
Make it a Mauritius meal
AloudaDrink
NapolitaineDessert
Dholl PuriLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Vindaye Poisson?
Fried firm fish folded into a tangy, mustardy pickle of turmeric, mustard seeds, garlic, ginger and vinegar with barely-cooked onions, eaten with fresh bread or rice.
Where does Vindaye Poisson come from?
Vindaye Poisson is a Mauritian dish from Port Louis, Mauritius.
Can Vindaye Poisson be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Vindaye Poisson recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Vindaye Poisson safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Vindaye Poisson take to make?
About 45 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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