Pork In A Mustard Spice Mix

"June Potluck" is the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), where we are currently cooking from Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes. However, for our Potluck themes, we are allowed to choose any of our previous featured chefs' recipes. And again, I have chosen one of Madhur Jaffrey's curries!

Those who have been following my blog would probably know how fond I am of Indian cuisine. I have several books on Indian cooking and each time when the craving for Indian curry sets in, I would find myself reaching out for the queen of spice, Madhur Jaffrey's book. I have been eyeing this particular dish, Pork In A Mustard Spice Mix, for a while now, and finally cooked it last week. I served this dish with Lemon and Curry Leaf Rice from my previous post, and a vegetable dish, Cauliflower and Aubergine Cooked In A Bengali Spice Mix.

What can I say? Get your spices ready and cook this! This is delicious!

The spices used :

Mustard spice mix : coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, dried chillies, cloves. Dry fry the spice mix in a saucepan over medium heat until a shade darker and emit a roasted aroma. I have replaced the brown mustard seeds with black mustard seeds.

Immediately transfer the spices onto a plate or kitchen paper towel to cool. Using kitchen paper towel is easier to transfer everything into the spice mill.

Grind the spices as finely as possible. 

I have doubled the recipe, since this dish needs to be braised for about an hour or so, might as well make more! Besides, a single recipe of 550 gm of meat  is not much really once the meat has been braised. And besides doubling on the amount of spices, I have added in an additional 2 teaspoons more, of the mustard spice mix.

Your house would have this lovely curry aroma while this curry is slowly braising on the stove, and you would be impatient to eat it, just like me! Haha! Really delicious served with rice and would be good too with some Indian bread. The pork meat is soft and tender, and full of flavour from all that spices. Delicious!

Comparing this to another of Madhur Jafrrey's curry which I made a while back, Red Pork Curry, I could not decide which one I like better, as both are rather different in taste but equally good! 

This post is linked to I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) for this week's "Potluck", with recipes from any of the seven previous featured chefs

Please do stop by I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) to view what my friends have made for the theme of this week, "June Potluck" , and if you are interested to join us, please find out more details from IHCC.

and I'm sharing this post too with :

Little Thumbs Up event where the theme for this month is Curry Powder/Curry Paste , hosted by Everybody Eats Well in Flanders, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen from my little favourite D.I.Y.

and ....

"Cook-Your-Books #1" hosted by me, Kitchen Flavours. Cook or bake any recipes from your cookbooks or magazines and link them up at "Cook-Your-Books", full details from here.

Pork In A Mustard Spice Mix
(adapted from "100 Essential Curries", Madhur Jaffrey)
for the mustard spice mix :
2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 whole dried, hot red chillies
5 whole cloves

for the pork :
550gm (1-1/4lb) boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-1/2 cm (1 in) cubes
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed to a pulp
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 tablespoons corn oil or peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
15-20 fresh curry leaves, if available
255gm (8oz) tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped

Step One

First make the mustard spice mix. Put all the spices in a medium, cast-iron frying pan and set over medium heat. Stir and fry until the spices are just a shade darker and emit a roasted aroma. Empty the spices into a bowl or on to kitchen paper and allow to cool. Then put them into a clean coffee grinder or other spice grinder and grind as finely as possible. These quantities make more than you need for this recipe but you can store the spice mix in a tightly lidded jar, away from sunlight and moisture, for use in other recipes.

Step Two

Rub the pork cubes well with the ginger, garlic, salt and turmeric. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours if desired, refrigerating if necessary.

Step Three

Pour the oil into a large, preferably non-stick, lidded pan and set over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the whole mustard seeds. As soon as they pop, which will be in a matter of seconds, add the curry leaves and, a second later, the pork, together with its marinade. Stir for a minute. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and let the meat cook for the next 5 minutes, stirring now and then and replacing the cover each time. The meat should brown lightly. Add 5 teaspoons of the mustard spice mix and stir for a minute. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes are pulpy, about 2 minutes. Now add 250ml (8fl oz) water, stir, and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook very gently. lifting the lid occasionally to stir the contents, for 50-60 minutes or until the meat is tender. Check for salt before serving.

kitchen flavour's notes :
I have cooked about 900gm of meat, double the spices, and added an additional 2 teaspoons of the Mustard Spice Mix during cooking. 

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