Rich, Dark Pork Curry – Pandi Curry Recipe

Pork is a great delicacy in Coorg, and this classic curry is the STAR of the table.

The English food writer, Jane Grigson, remarked:

It could be said that European civilization – and Chinese civilization too – has been founded on the pig… cooked and cured from snout to tail.

While we may not venture to say quite the same of Coorg, our hunting festival of Keilpolud, our harvest at Puthari, our weddings – in fact, almost every celebration would not be the same without a dish of pork. It could be a classic pandi curry, or small cubes of preserved pork, cooked in its own fat, or morsels of smoky flavoured roast pork, blazing with the flavours of bird’s eye chillis whatever the favourite, pork makes the occasion.

The hefty wild boar that roamed the once dense forests of Coorg, with its family of deliciously striped piglets was a formidable adversary, respected by every Coorg hunter. Intelligent, cunning and terrifyingly strong, generations of hunting experience is summed up in a simple adage: ‘do not stand in the path of a charging boar.’ Wild boar meat was much sought after, and once its sharp bristles were smeared with mud, and burnt off in a fire built up with grass, there was plenty to be done with the meat, both fresh and dried. There were as many stories about wild boars, as there were hunters in Coorg, but one day, the wildlife laws changed everything.

The end of hunting did not mean the end of pork on the table, though. My mother –in – law, like many Coorg women, reared pigs. Large, well –fed and active, they ambled around, familiar figures, until one day, they vanished. This happened at regular intervals, and no one quite asked where they went, preferring to maintain a discreet silence on the topic. She once had an adorable pair of piglets, oddly – named Jack and Jill, who became a great favourite with the grandchildren of the house. The children would run across to the pig – sty every day, the littlest one, my daughter, sitting on the wall, while the boys played with, and often teased the piglets. One day the boys were chased fiercely around the sty by the piglets, and quickly gave up teasing them. When Jack and Jill disappeared some time later, I worried about what explanation to offer the children; but no one asked too many questions. The Coorg passion for that dish of sultry pandi curry on the table, that bottle of pork pickle to take back home after the holidays, triumphed over recently made farmyard friendships.

Pandi Curry Recipe ( Pressure Cooker Recipe )

Ingredients:

For the Spice mix:

• 1 tbsp Black peppercorns or more, according to taste
• 1 tbsp Cumin seeds
• 1 ½ tbsp Coriander seeds
• 1 ½ tbsp Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp scant Fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp Cassia bark ,optional
• ½ tsp Cardamom ,optional
• ½ tsp Cloves ,optional

For the Curry:

• 1 Kg Pork A combination of lean meat, fat and bone, cut into approximately 1-inch cubes
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• Red Chilli Powder to taste ,optional
• 3 Large Onions
• 3 Inch Root Ginger ,scraped
• 1 ½ Bulbs Garlic ,peeled
• 2-3 Full Fresh Green Chilies ,slit
• 3-4 tbsp Sesame oil
• Salt to taste
• 2 Cups Hot water
• 1 Level tbsp Kachampuli (Coorg Vinegar)

Equipment:

• 1 Cast iron pan or Frying pan to dry roast the spices
• 1 Grinder to grind the dry spices
• 1 Pressure Cooker

Method:

• Dry roast each of the above whole spices separately, cool and grind to a powder in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
• Wash the pork, pat dry. Sprinkle with turmeric powder, and red chilli powder if using, Mix well, and set aside.
• Chop the onions finely. Scrape the ginger, peel the garlic, and grind together to a smooth paste in a food processor. Slit the green chilies and set aside.
• Heat the sesame oil in a pressure cooker, and when hot, add the chopped onions. Stir and fry over medium heat until translucent. Add the ginger-garlic paste, and fry until the raw smell disappears.
• Add the marinated pork cubes, raise the heat and fry until the meat changes colour.
• Now reduce the heat, add the dry-roasted spices, and mix until the cubes of pork are well coated with the spice mixture. Add salt to taste, 2 cups hot water (more or less, according to the thickness of gravy you prefer) and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover, reduce the heat to low-medium, and pressure cook for about 20 minutes.
• Remove from the heat. Allow the pressure to drop. Test for doneness. The pork should be tender but firm.
• Return to the heat, toss in the slit green chillies, add the Kachampuli, and simmer for about 5-7 minutes over low heat.
• Serve with an extra squeeze of lime and kadambuttus (steamed rice dumplings).

Pandicurry is usually eaten with Akki Ottis or Kadambuttus.