Red Pork Curry : IHCC

"Foods To Warm You Up" is the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). Curries and spicy food has always been the comfort food for me and I especially love pork curry! So what better dish to warm me up and makes me smile at dinnertime, none other than a bowl of delicious pork curry! The original recipe is Red Beef Curry, but I have used pork stewing meat instead.

This is one delicious bowl of curry! The pork is tender, full of flavour from the spices and the thick gravy is so fragrant from the curry leaves and pandanus leaves. Yes, this curry uses both the curry leaves and pandanus leaves. I did some changes by doubling the amount of spices used, if you would like to try at making this curry, I would advise you to do the same. You may refer to the changes I've made (in blue)  from the recipe below. 

This curry uses a fair amount of coconut milk, but I do not like my curry to be overloaded with coconut milk, as I feel that any curry with lots of coconut milk, would actually covers the tastes of all the lovely spices, so I have only used a little. This curry is great too without the addition of coconut milk, I have tasted before and after adding the milk, just to see the difference. It is very tasty and delicious without the coconut milk, but I've decided to follow the recipe since this is the first time I'm trying it, so I've added in only a little of the coconut milk, and this dish turns out delicious as well. So if you've run out of coconut milk in your pantry, don't worry, this dish is equally good without it. And I have omitted the lemon juice as I feel that it is delicious as it is. Feel free to add in if you wish.

This is a very easy dish to prepare, it does not take much time, other than the slow braising. Give it a try! Definitely one dish that I will cook again! It is so good!

I served this delicious curry with plain basmati rice for dinner last week with a simple salad. 

Please drop by I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) to see what my friends are making for "Foods To Warm Me Up".

I'm sharing this with :
See Ya In The Gumbo hosted by Ms. enPlace


Red Pork Curry
(adapted from "100 Essential Curries", Madhur Jaffrey)
Serves 4
450gm (1lb) stewing pork, cut into 2-1/2cm (1 in) pieces (600gm)
1 teaspoon ground coriander (2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon ground cumin (2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon ground fennel (2 teaspoons)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (4 teaspoons chilli powder)
2 teaspoons bright red paprika (4 teaspoons)
freshly ground black pepper (1 teaspoon)
3 tablespoons corn oil or peanut oil
1 medium stick cinnamon
4 whole cardamom pods (8 pods)
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (1 teaspoon)
4 tablespoons peeled and finely sliced shallots (10 large shallots)
2 garlic cloves (5 cloves)
2 thin slices fresh ginger (5 slices, cut to julienned strips)
5cm (2in) piece fresh or frozen pandanus leaf (1 pandanus leaf, cut to 3" sections)
10-15 fresh curry leaves, if available (2 large stalks curry leaves)
3/4 teaspoon salt (to taste)
2 teaspoon lemon juice (omit this)
175ml (6fl oz) shaken coconut milk (I only use 60ml)

1. Put the meat in a bowl. Add ground coriander, cumin, fennel, cayenne pepper, paprika and lots of black pepper. Mix well to coat the beef (or pork) and set aside for 15-20 minutes.
2. Peel and finely slice the shallots and garlic. Pour 3 tablespoons oil into a large, non-stick, lidded pan and set on a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cinnamon, cardamom pods, fenugreek seeds, shallots, garlic, ginger, pandanus leaf and curry leaves. Stir for 2 minutes or until the shallots have become translucent. Add the meat, and continue to stir for a further 2-3 minutes or until the meat is lightly browned. Add the salt, 350ml (12fl oz) water and the lemon juice, and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat to very low, and simmer gently for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until the meat is tender. If the water dries out, just add a little bit more. Lift the lid to stir once or twice during this period.
3. Stir in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Taste for salt.

** The whole spices are not meant to be eaten, remove before serving.