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Rich,Dark Pork Curry – Pandi Curry Recipe
May 14th, 2012 by Kaveri Ponnapa |
44 Comments »
 Pandi Curry Click here for information on set of Ingredients for Coorg Cuisine
Pandi Curry: Rich, Dark Pork Curry
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Pork is a great delicacy in Kodagu,and this classic curry is the star of the table.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg pork with skin and fat, cut into small pieces.
- Salt
- 1 tsp fresh ground pepper powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 6 medium onions, sliced
- 1 whole pod garlic, coarsely crushed
- gingelly oil
- 2 inch piece ginger, crushed
- 3 level tbsp coriander powder
- 2 level tbsp chili powder
- kachampuli or malt vinegar
In addition:
- 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
- ½ tsp mustard seeds, both slow roasted separately on a tava, until medium brown, cooled & powdered fine.
Method:
- Wash the pork, (retain ½ cup water) drain, and add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper powder, turmeric and set aside.
- Mix the sliced onions & crushed garlic with the pork.
- Heat about 3 tbsp gingelly oil (more, if the pork contains less fat), add the crushed ginger, & fry until brown. Remove browned ginger, & add to the pork.
- On very low flame, add 3 level tbsp coriander powder & keep stirring for about 1minute. Then add 2 level tbsp chili powder, & stir until it turns coffee brown.
- Add the pork, & its washed water (about ½ cup). Cover the vessel with a lid, & cook on medium flame until all the water evaporates. Keep stirring occasionally.
- When all the water has evaporated, add warm water to just cover the meat, and cook uncovered on a medium flame until done.
- You can also pressure cook the pork in the following way. Once the water evaporates, add 2 cups of water, and pressure cook for 2 whistles.
- Once the pork is done, whether slow cooked, or pressure-cooked, add 1 ½ tbsp kachampuli, stir, & cook for a further 10 mins on a slow fire. Taste, & add more salt or kachampuli, as required. The oil should rise to the surface.
- Add the roasted, ground jeera & mustard seeds to the curry.
Cook’s Tip:
This is a slightly different, and entirely delicious pandi curry. This recipe is from my aunt’s mother, & as a cook’s tip, she shares this with us – she never hurries pork by pressure- cooking it, preferring to allow it to cook slowly, to release fat and natural flavours. The result is, deep flavours, and succulent pork, cooked to perfection. She also uses gingelly oil, which was the traditional cooking medium in Coorg, which adds its own memorable flavour to this curry. I can vouch that slow cooking the pork is worth every bit of the effort !
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Classic Pandi Curry Made Easy
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Pork is a great delicacy in Kodagu,and this classic curry is the star of the table.
Ingredients:
- 1kg Pork, with a proportion of fat, and a small quantity of bones,cut into cubes (fat and bones combined should not exceed 250 grams)
- 2 large onions, chopped fine.
- 4 inch piece of ginger
- 4 cloves of garlic.
- 2 tablespoons whole cumin (jeera) seeds.
- 1 ½ tablespoons mustard (rye) seeds.
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns.
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek (methi) seeds.
- 2 teaspoons turmeric powder.
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder.
- 1 tablespoon, or to taste, red chili powder.
- 3 green chillies, slit vertically.
- 1 ½ tablespoon kachampuli, or Coorg vinegar ( see note on ingredients for substitutes)
- salt to taste.
- 2 cups hot water.
- A little oil for frying
Method :
- Grind the ginger and garlic to a fine paste.
- Dry roast each of the dry spices on a hot tava, separately. Start with the spices that take longer to roast. Mustard seeds should turn white and begin to crackle; the cumin and fenugreek should turn dark brown and begin to release their aromas. Allow them to cool, then grind each one separately to a fine powder.
- Wash and drain the pork, sprinkle with the turmeric and set aside.
- Fry the chopped onions in a little oil ( 3-4 tablespoons) until lightly browned.
- Add the garlic ginger paste and fry for a few minutes.
- Add the pork and turmeric, and fry until the pork releases water, and begins to change colour.
- Sprinkle and mix in the coriander powder, chilli powder, and finally all the dry roasted spices. Stir thoroughly. Add salt to taste.
- Add about 2 cups of hot water, or according to the gravy required.
- Pressure cook on medium heat for about 20 mins. Remove from gas and allow the pressure to drop.
- Add about 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of kachampuli, and simmer for a few minutes. If you are using a substitute for kachampuli, like a dark brown vinegar, you will have to double the quantities, and the curry may not be so dark in colour. Finally, add the green chillies.
Pandi curry can be eaten with akki ottis, or kadambuttus.
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This first set of recipes for classic Coorg curries and fries, and a few steamed rice puttus are from my aunt, Sabitha Chengappa, who in addition to her enviable academic record – a Fulbright Scholar and a PhD.- manages her own coffee estate, is a superb cook and gardener, and one of the most generous hostesses I know.
About Kaveri Ponnapa
Kaveri Ponnapa is an independent Bangalore based food writer, and Contributing Editor at Food Lovers Magazine. Her extremely popular articles appear regularly in Food Lovers magazine. She also writes for Upper Crust and the Taj Magazine. She has written for leading publications such as The Times of India, Swagat, and Discover India for over two decades on art, travel,people and design. Kaveri’s food writings are inspired by a childhood spent hovering around a grandmother,who was an expert and versatile cook and a mother –in –law who was as generous a teacher as she was an outstanding cook. In addition, she has dedicated many years exploring her love for the traditional foods of Coorg and loves to share her experiences with other food lovers. Kaveri is on Upper Crust Magazine’s list of Fifty Fantastic Cooks.
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I love pork, but was a bit worried about the worms issue that i am obviously ill informed about. Can you tell me about that please.
Yes, you are ill informed.
You should also go through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork & http://www.lovepork.co.uk/ . It is much safer than the neighbourhood panipuri guy, if you cook and source it well. Like all do with their meat and vegetables.
I like that first line of your comment …….You love pork!. But……
Like all food, vegetables or meat, it is very important to buy it from a good, clean and reliable source. Good quality farmed pork, like what is sold by the Bangalore Ham Shop on M.G. Road who have their own farms,is safe.
Yummmmm, truly the “land of Kaveri” & i hereby re-christen your home “pandi heaven”!
Hi Aarish, coming from a chef like you, I welcome that. Do try the recipes,especially this one. It takes more time, but works brilliantly.
I just love this Coorg staple. So far I’ve tried the Pandi curry at The Windsor Pub, Koshy’s and, if I remember correctly, Coorg (just off CMH Road) and they were quite good. Any other places that you would recommend?
Yes, Ra-Ben, we recently had dinner at Dakshin, at the Windsor Manor. They had an authentic and tasty pandi curry. Master Chef George Jayasurya has been trained by Mrs. Ranee Vijaya Kuttaiah, who is a superb cook herself. Chef Jayasurya sources kachampuli from Coorg, and slow roasts his spices in the traditional way. I think you will like their version.
Coorg! my favourite destination in the whole world and Pandi Curry makes it so much better. Cant wait to try this recipe out. I have tasted Pandi Curry made by Mrs Ponnapa and I still start licking my fingers when i think about it. Today i get to know the secret and I am all excited!!
Thanks alot ma’am
That pandi curry was DIVINE!! Remember Ashvin how the entire staff at Graze went crazy over it!!!
Thank you for sharing the recipe with us ma’am!!
Uday, thank you very much, and I hope you will follow this page, there are many more tried and tested, much loved recipes on their way.
I most certainly will Ma’am!!
Hi Ashvin, great to see you here. Enjoy the recipe, it’s really good, and there’s another, shortcut one which is going to be up soon, so you can decide which one you like better.
Akka, i have had pandi curry made by you couple of times and must admit i just love it.. “Delicious” is the only one word to desribe it
thank u for sharing it.
Can I now tempt you to try out the recipe?!!! Then you can tell me how it turned out.
This is just great ! After nine years of visiting and actually living, for months on, in Kodagu i will be able to enjoy a delicious meal, and share this enjoyment with my friends here in Greece. I had some recipes from several people there but this one is far beyond in details and about the actual way that it has to be prepared. I am sure that the diners I will offer to my friends will become famous in all Athens.
Welcome, Antonios, it’s wonderful to see your comments here. Enjoy the recipes, there will be more in the coming weeks. And since you are totally Kodava at heart, I am sure you and your wife will do justice to to our cooking! Thank you!
Mrs Ponnapa you are very inspirational to many chefs like me in the city ,with your information about local traditional cuisine and ingredients.I was one of the lucky ones who had a chance to taste your Pandi curry which was so yummy and flavorful and always wanted to have that recipe.I am sure ,these recipes are tried and tested for a long time and is the best one can get .Thanks for the recipes and looking forward for more.Will definitely try .
Prashanth, thank you very much, you have made my day with your post! I hope you enjoy trying out the recipes, and now you can make it anytime you feel like – but in case you don’t, then a dish full of pandi curry is just a phone call away
Looks so delicious and I’m sure it tastes divine!! Will try it out this weekend Kaveri. Thank you for showcasing the traditional dishes of your community. Its very important to preserve for posterity the tastes and flavours of our Communities otherwise they’ll simply die out some day.
You’ve done such a great job, Bridget, with a host of cookbooks – we can only hope to follow!
First, thanks fr a great recipe! In the first recipe ie authentic pandi, When does the onion and garlic get added ? And is I’d added in a fried or raw state? The recipe was unclear on that. Making it for the first time so looking forward to it!
Hello Priya, welcome to A Gourmet’s Table In Coorg. The sliced onion & crushed garlic are mixed in, raw, with the pork & salt, pepper & turmeric in steps 1 &2 & set aside. Add this entire mixture at step 5 of the recipe & follow the rest of the instructions. Since there is no rush of pressure cooking, everything cooks very slowly, and literally melts.
I have to say that the second recipe is also entirely authentic & very, very tasty, from my grandmother. If you are cooking it for the first time,I recommend the second recipe. Also, do click on Note On Ingredients before you begin cooking, there are some helpful hints there. You are welcome to ask any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them. Enjoy the pandi curry : )
Kaveri, first lovely to properly meet you n Naresh a the MasterchEf Judges event. Appropriate! Was motivated to try the pandhi curry for the second time today And it came out beautifully. Great colour , tartness and taste. Had it with parathas and kachumber salad an hour ago, and we could be in heaven. So pleased , and you’ve got me out of my fear of cooking pork.
A couple if changes I made , inadvertently but it didn’t affect the final result much.
I marinated the pork cubes last night since I wasn’t tOo sure what I wanted to make with it. I used a marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, seasoning, paprika, thyme and rosemary as well as a little garlic powder , and left it overnight.
This morning since Pandi Curry was calling my name, I looked up this recipe, and see the same marinade. The other change I made was that I sautéed the onion separately after frying the ginger and kept it aside.but when it came to drying out the pork n Step 5 of the Classic Pandi Curry recipe, I used only the pork and did not add the onions. Found the pork absorbed the dry powders much better. Once dry, I added the sautéed onion , the 2 cups of water and pressure cooked it. I did this because when i Attempted the pork and onions together last time, the pork wasn’t cooked in that melting way, and was a trifle chewy. This time between this and the pressure cooking, it was melting and fabulous! Just loved it. I was worried about the odd overnight marinade but except fr the mildly honey taste , it had no effect.
Wd love yr comments. And once again, Kaveri, many many thanks for sharing!
What fun you seem to have had with the pork recipe, Priya, with great results. Thank you for sharing your culinary experiments here, I’m really pleased that you have overcome your fear of handling pork. I have to say the marinade is unusual,I can well picture my grandmom’s expression here ; ) But cooking is all about improvising, and if it worked for you, then it becomes your own recipe.
I suspect that your marinade actually helped get you the melting texture you were looking for, although I assure you, with a bit of patient cooking of the onions, the pork get as soft in the original recipe. It does retain some of it’s ‘bite’ though, as it is meant to. Great to hear from you. Now why don’t you try the recipe for chicken curry? Or a dark, delicious fish curry Much easier, and really very tasty – good luck!
And also, I must admit I got some of the genuine Kanchampuli and the black Pandhi masala from the Kodava Shop at Windsor Pub/Kodava Samaj compound, so that was great.
That’s would help a lot. And next time round, do try and roast your own masalas – a bit of an effort, but just see what a difference it makes.
Thanks Kaveri. Your recipe sounds really tasty. I want to try it out if I can find all the ingredients here in Zurich. – The way you describe Coorg – the beautiful landscape, the customs and the delicious food – entices me to visit this place. I look forward to more savoury Coorg recipes from you!
Hello Philipp, now that is a real challenge, searching for these ingredients in Zurich. If you would like me to suggest substitutes, I would be happy to. Yes, Coorg is very beautiful and the culture unique, well worth a visit, you would love it, and of course, the food too.
Two perfect recipes , thank you Kaveri for sharing them ! Of all the pork dishes I have tasted, Pandi Curry is what I like best by a long shot , followed closely ( I know closely is kind of Non Sequitur after I have said “By a long shot “by Pork Chilly fry as you nurse your favourite poison. For a dish that tastes so divine it is amazingly easy to make. I guess the secret lies in just the right blend of spices and the magical elixir Kachampulli . It has been proven that the fruit has cholesterol lowering properties, so what genius to use it in a pork recipe . It is the Absolute Hog Heaven .
Pandi curry is a great favourite, and I’m not surprised you love it, Jyoti. I have to say I like the chilli fry better – but on the other hand, the gravy of a pandi curry….. choices, choices! For most people, Kachampuli is associated with pork, but we use it in chicken, fish, crab fry and curry, mutton chops, brinjal fry and many, many other dishes. Most of the people I know in the villages tell me that it was used in all the vegetable dishes too, before tomatoes arrived on the scene, in a thinner concentration. It also has a number of medicinal uses-home remedies some of which I have on sheets of paper, handwritten by my mum-in -law. Very versatile, to say the least.
Hi Kaveri, is there a recipe fr Pork Chilly Fry on yr website as well?
Hello, Priya, no, not as yet, but it’s up on my FB page. It is actually a roast and just so delicious, I actually like it better than pandi curry – the smaller cubes of pork just soak up the flavours of the spices, which are really minimal, making it one of those simple, linger-licking good dishes. Enjoy!
This recipe has an amazing number of shares – I wish everyone would tell me just how their version of this Coorg classic turned out !
Kaveri ji,
Im traditionally a bong, but having lived in bangalore for three decades, have learnt to love my pork as much as my fish. Now, i live in a Pharin country. Had school mates and college mates who were forever talking about this infamous pandi curry but never actually got to taste it. Married to a manglorean beauty, she tasted this curry which i stole from you… Yummm was verdict. Although I goofed up a bit on the salt it turned out to be a smashing hit!! Now I ain’t going to touch this dish. Its going lie in my fridge for a couple of days after which me and my girls are going to enjoy My culinary skills
. Thank you very much.
Hello Sudeb, it’s really great to hear that you and your family enjoyed the curry. It is delicious, and gets better if you keep it for a few days. I am sure that with just a little practice, you will have the perfect pandi curry, as this is a very easy recipe to follow. Since you are Bong, I have to recommend the fish curry as well as the crab curry – both the recipes are on this site. They are very different from the curries you may be familiar with, but full of flavour. My family and I had the crab curry for lunch today, as it is Sunday, and you can take your time over the crab. I have to say that watching everyone concentrating on this curry is a treat! Thank you for your response.
kaveri Ji,
just straight question. do u have any idea where in chennai we get traditional coorg pandi curry.
Hello Dr.Vinod, since I am not so familiar with Chennai, I really cannot make any suggestions about where to get authentic pandi curry . But the Kodava Samajas usually sell ingredients for Coorg cooking, and if you can get a bottle of kachampuli,the Coorg vinegar,I would suggest that you try out the second recipe on this page( Classic Pandi Curry Made Easy). It takes a little time to roast and grind the spices, but that’s about all. It’s tried and tested, as you can see from the shares and not difficult to make.And the taste of the curry at the end is really worth the effort. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have, on how to cook it.
thank you so much. there is still a glimmer of hope to find out people from coorg in chennai. let you know about my culinary skills later…. wish you a happy happy chefffy year 2013.
It would be nice to hear how the curry turns out,and with a bit of a search,I am sure you will find the right ingredients. Good luck!
finally i managed to get kachampuli or kodampuli (malayalam) in chennai. I have set jan 14 (D day for pandi curry). couple of doubts. wht u mean by 3 level corriander powder or 2 level cumin powder. Is it same what is avalilable in the supermarkets or u mean freshly grounded??. I agree second option is the best for authenticity. clarify plz. ( vinnar@rediffmail.com)
Hi! It’s great to hear that you got kachampuli. To answer your question,the 3 level coriander/cumin powder is the same as what you get in the market.
Since you are making pandi curry for the first time, I would recommend the second recipe Classic Pandi Curry Made Easy. In this one, the pork cooks quickly, and is absolutely authentic, without the long cooking time. Once you have mastered it, then you can try the first one too. I hope this answers your query! And do let me know how your curry turns out.
Hi Kaveri, I have tried out your pandi curry (2nd recipe) several times and on all occasions, have had my guests wax eloquently about how divine it was. All credit to you, Kaveri, for your easy to follow recipes, which make attempting new dishes a joy. Thanks again.
Hi! Welcome to A Gourmet’s Table in Coorg. This is the most popular dish from Coorg,not surprising once you taste those dark, rich flavours. It also keeps very well, becoming more delicious as the flavours settle. I’m so glad you found the recipe and instructions easy, do try out some of the others on the site, like the crab curry,and tell me how you like them. : )
Hi Dr. Vinod, I hope your pandi curry turned out just right. I have replied to your query, please refer back on this page for the details.