- 2021
SRI LANKAN PORK CURRY
Made with Gluten and Lactose-Free products
Serves: 4 to 8
Why am I saying 4 to 8? If you serve the pork curry with just rice, our choice is generally white Basmati, this meal will be good for 4. But if you add another curry, onion pickle* and a salad of cut up tomato and cucumber dressed with a lemon vinaigrette it can be easily stretched to 8.
I am from Sri Lanka, I cook Sri Lankan food that is delicious, but NOT spicy. Lot of Sri Lankan cooks feel that Sri Lankan food must be spicy or indeed, super spicy.
To me, if the food is too spicy, after the first bite you can’t taste anything else because you have just killed all your taste buds! So that is not the way to go. If you wish, make your dishes a little spicier than mine, but please don’t make them so spicy that you kill your taste buds as you will never know how yummy Sri Lankan food is. I find it best to have some spicy condiment on the side if someone wants a bit more spice. (Chinese Chili Garlic Paste or Thai Sambal Olek are my go-to's).
Just so you know, milk or yogurt will take the sting out and restore your taste buds.
Peter loves Sri Lankan food. It was actually the first meal I made for him in my home where I was living with my parents and my younger brother, they were all away for the day and I made Peter lunch with left overs for the rest of the family to have when they got back. That was in January 1973! It was good. (But I am a better cook now.) Later when I began to cook for us at Peter’s place, the first thing I cooked was Hamberger Helper! A big difference in cooking styles!
A Sri Lankan meal typically consists of several dishes. Meats, fish, vegetables as well as several condiments. However many or few dishes you make, to me, it always has to have rice, one or two curries and fresh onion pickle (tastes best when made fresh). Curries always taste better the next day which gives time for the flavors to meld.
When there are more than the two of us at the table, I end up making several dishes. in the coming weeks I will add more Sri Lankan recipes, so you can have your own feast!
Measure and prep:
The base:
coconut oil – 1 to 4 T or flavorless vegetable oil
cinnamon stick – one 2” piece broken up (get Ceylon cinnamon* if you can)
cumin seeds - 1 T
Curry leaves* - 1 to 2 sprigs or about 20 leaves (Strip off the leaves roll them up and slice as thin as possible, a chiffonade).
Shallots – ½ c finely chopped about 2 large (option, red onion)
Pork chops – 1 ½” thick, bone in with ¼ to ½" rim of fat, about 1 ½ lbs, cut in 1 ½ “cubes
Dry rub for the pork:
Baking soda – 1 ½ t
Kosher salt – 1 t
Ground black pepper ½ t
Cayenne pepper – ½ to 1 ½ t
Curry powder* - 4 T, I use Sri Lankan raw curry powder
Turmeric - 2 t
Garlic - 2 T finely minced
Ginger – 2 T finely minced
Tomato paste – 2 T
Tamarind paste* - 1 T if concentrate, if not, 2 T
Jalapeño chili - 1 small, seeds removed sliced super thin, about 1 T *
Sugar – 1 t
Braising and sauce:
Chicken stock – ½ to 1 c
coconut milk – ¼ to ½ c, thick (if you can find only light coconut milk, refrigerate for an hour and use the cream that rises to the top)
Garnish:
Scallion – sliced diagonally and sprinkled on top
Let's cook some pork curry!
Whisk the dry rub in a bowl to mix well.
Add the cubed pork and toss with the rub and set aside for about 30 minutes or leave to marinade 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
Heat a 12” ceramic skillet over slightly less than medium heat for 5 minutes, your favorite non- stick skillet will be fine but you will need more oil and more heat.
Pour in 1 T oil, mustard seeds, cinnamon stick, cumin seeds, curry leaves and cook stirring for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Add the shallots and stir well and sauté until they get soft and translucent.
if needed add 1 to 2 T more oil, add the dry rub marinated cubed pork, spread out so cubes are in one layer and cook 1 minute, turn the meat over and cook 1 minute more.
Pour in enough chicken stock to barely cover the meat, cover the skillet and bring to a boil. As soon as the liquid begins to boil, lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. (The meat should be tender when poked with a fork, simmer a little more if the meat is not tender enough for you.)
Remove the lid, taste and adjust the seasoning by adding salt and ground black pepper.
Stir in the coconut milk (adjusting to the amount of sauce you want) and cook for 1 minute and remove from heat.
Serve with basmati rice. The meal will be better rounded out by adding other curries, onion pickle and a salad.
*I purchase Sri Lankan Raw Curry Powder, Ceylon Cinnamon, Tamarind paste, Curry leaves Maldives’ fish flakes at Kalustian's on 28 and Lexington in Manhattan or order on line from Sri Lankan Delight. If you have a local Asian Food store check with them. (Kalustians carries everything smaller quantities)
* Sri Lankan Okra Curry – check archives in Mrs. Gabby’s Kitchen – June 2021
*FRESH ONION PICKLE
Red Onion – 1 c, sliced super thin using a very sharp knife or with a mandolin
Kosher salt – ½ t
Ground black pepper – ¼ t
Maldives' fish – finely flaked 1 t, optional can be substituted with dried shrimp coarsely ground (Kalustians as well as Sri Lankan Delight has them) Maldives’ fish is a dried and flaked fish.
Lemon Juice – 1 to 2 T (to taste)
Slice the onion, add the salt, pepper, Maldives' fish if using and 1 T lemon juice and refrigerate.
Just before you are ready to serve dinner smoosh the onions etc. together with your fingers. Taste and adjust seasonings. (Tastes best when made fresh.) This dish should be a little saltier, and a little lemonier than you think, just like how gravy should be a seasoned a little more heavily.
Enjoy!