Spicy Pork and Potato Curry

It is but fitting that I start this blog with an Indian recipe. The region in India I come from, Arunachal, borders China, Nepal, Myanmar and Tibet. Our cuisine is more asian than Indian. I am still learning the art of balancing spices when cooking Indian.

Like most good Indian housewives, I make my curries, especially those with red meats, in a pressure cooker. But this recipe taken from Anjum Anand, is for a sauce pan and I have added some personal tweaks to it. It is best eaten with basmati rice, but we were out of basmati and ate ours with wild rice.

*You can use chicken or beef instead of pork-OR-make a vegetarian version using only potatoes.

• 2 tbs. vegetable oil
• ½ tsp. panch phoran (a Indian five spice mix of cumin, fennel, mustard, nigella and fenugreek seeds)
• 1 tsp panch phoran to roast and grind.
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1-2 green chilli, pierced with the tip of a knife
• 3 fat cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 inch ginger, peeled
• Salt to taste
• 1 large tomato, pureed
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• 1½ tsp. coriander powder
• 500g pork shoulder, with some fat on it, cut into 1” cubes
• 2 large potatoes peeled and diced into big squares.

Heat the oil in a medium non-stick saucepan. Add the panch phoran seeds and once the mustard seeds are popping add the onions and chillies; cook until golden.

Make a fine puree of the ginger and garlic with a splash of water and add to the cooked onions. Cook until all the excess moisture in the pan has dried off and the paste has fried for 20 seconds. You should be able to see tiny oil bubbles popping up. 

Add the pureed tomato, salt, spices, pork and potatoes- give the whole thing a good stir, add a splash of water, bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 35-40 minutes or until the pork is cooked through. Add an extra splash of water if necessary and serve. Serves 4