Just wanted to say I appreciate this post so much. I didn't know tempura was originally Portuguese, and it was also a huge surprise to me that vindaloo, what I think of as a quintessentially Indian dish, was too. A delightfully informative post!
It also explains why vindaloo is often served without potato, which bothered me for a long time. I grew up with my Dad making what he called "vindaloo" that was at least 30% - 50% potato and I loved it. But if you go to an Indian restaurant, it's the only dish with "aloo" in the name without potato. Turns out the name has nothing to do with "aloo" as in potato, and it just means meat in garlic wine sauce, which is exactly what you get at a restaurant.
