So my Vindaloo recipe called for red pepper, but I couldn't find a clarification on what type of red pepper. As a lover of spicy food I added red chili pepper which gave it too much heat. My guest was sweating and hiccuping from the spice. Any suggestions on the appropriate red pepper for vindaloo?

Well, from this description, it sounds like the amount you put in was appropriate. Such is vindaloo. My suggestion is either pick a more suitable dish for your guests, or better yet, pick more suitable guests for your dish.

Most cooks use 2-8 red chilies when making the paste for Vindaloo. I don't know how much cayenne you added, or your guest's tolerance level, but using individual chilies might ensure a more controlled heat.

Lesson learned- use cayenne pepper, not Texas chili powder.

Thanks.

Commercial chili powders are a blend of some form of spicy red chile (cayenne is one of those) sometimes with a sweet red pepper (paprika), cumin, salt and oregano. Sometimes other dried herbs or spices are included. I suppose that one could think of chili powder as a form of masala--Indian spice blends are called masalas, and there are a multitude of different ones for a wide variety of dishes--even tea masala for spiced chai. In making a vindaloo, you are probably following a recipe that calls for a blend of various flavor elements, like ginger, garlic and various spices (garam masala? cumin? turmeric? fennel seed? fenugreek?). You are creating your own vindaloo masala to flavor the dish. You could use fresh hot chiles, like serrano or thai chiles or dried red chiles or some cayenne for the heat.