← Nouns Cooking · Indian

Ingredients

• 12 dried Kashmiri chillies, stalks removed, soaked in hot water for 20 min
• 1½ tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 6 Cloves
• 5 cm piece cinnamon stick
• 4 green cardamom pods
• ½ tsp Ground turmeric
• 8 cloves Garlic
• 4 cm piece Ginger, roughly chopped
• 100 ml cider, coconut or red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp jaggery or brown sugar
• 1½ tsp Salt
• 1 kg boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3–4 cm cubes
• 4 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 2 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Tomato purée (paste)
• 300 ml hot water
• 2 Green chilli, slit lengthways (optional)

Method

1. Drain the soaked chillies and blend them with the cumin, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, garlic, ginger, vinegar, jaggery and salt to a very smooth paste.
2. Rub the paste all over the pork in a glass or ceramic bowl. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy casserole over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds; when they pop, add the onions and cook for 12–15 min until deep golden.
4. Add the pork with all its marinade and the tomato paste. Fry, stirring, for 8–10 min, until the paste darkens and smells toasty rather than raw.
5. Pour in the hot water and add the green chillies. Cover and simmer gently for 1 hour, stirring now and then, then uncover and cook for 15–20 min more, until the pork is very tender and the sauce is thick. Add a splash of water if it catches.
6. Taste: it should be hot, sour and a little sweet. Adjust with salt, vinegar or jaggery and serve with rice or crusty bread. It’s even better the next day.

Tips

• Marinate in glass or ceramic rather than metal, as the vinegar can react with it.
• Kashmiri chillies bring colour more than heat; swap a few for hotter dried chillies if you want it truly fiery.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food Great British Chefs RecipeTin Eats