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Nov. 19th, 2008 06:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickSo I'm making the thing with the pork that thinks I'm using boneless hunks of lamb instead of boneless hunks of pork. Sorry, there, Indian Cookbook guy, but I live in central PA. Here, there is never, ever lamb for two dollars a pound. It's not two dollars a pound on the fucking hoof, let alone boneless and ready to use. Also, lamb tastes weird. I like pork and I can get pork loin for $2.00 a pound if I hit the sales which, I assure you, I did. So, pork it is.
Right, then.Lamb Pork Curry in a Sweet Onion-Tomato Sauce. P. 190 in the book.
2 teasp. ground coriander
1 teasp. ground cumin
1 teasp. sweet paprika
1 teasp. salt
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. turmeric
4 slices fresh ginger, chopped fine
4 large garlic cloves, chopped fine
1.5 lbs boneless pork loin, cut into 1" cubes
2 T canola oil (I used ghee b/c I had it on hand)
4 black cardamom pods (I used green b/c didn't have black)
2 dried bay leaves
1 cup canned tomato sauce (I blenderized the rest of the can o' tomatoes from the previous recipe)
1/4 cup Fried Onion Paste (see p. 16. Basically, fry onions slowly until they are brown, like you are making French Onion Soup. Then, put 'em in a blender with just enough water to make a smooth paste. When you do this, onions really cook down a boatload, so make lots.)
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro leaves
Mix up to and including the garlic, dump over pork cubes, stir, and let sit for thirty minutes in fridge to season. Heat up oil in large pan, medium high. Add cardamom pods and bay leaves, cook 30 sec. Add pork and stir-fry until browned all over. Add tomato sauce, onion paste, cilantro. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-ish, cover, and cook until done all the way through and soft, about twenty or thirty minutes for pork loin.
It makes its own juice, so don't worry about that even though it looks kind of dry right after you add the tomato sauce and onion paste. Do not worry. There will be sauce enough.
Preliminary tasting (it's in the final cooking phase as I type this to you) suggests that it has a really mild and fine burn. (Otherwise it's fine and tasty, would be good with rice or by itself or with flatbread.) Thing is, I like my curry type things burnier than this looks like it is going to turn out. Cayenne is a delayed-reaction spice, though, so I'm waiting until next tasting to up the voltage if need be. (Next tasting: Needed more cayenne. Call it 3/4 of a teaspoon instead of half. It didn't need *much* more. I've made a note.)
Procedurally, this was a very easy curry to put together. I did have to go make the Fried Onion Paste, but since I managed that while the pork was marinating in its spices, it wasn't like any time was lost. That Fried Onion Paste, damn, that's crazy tasty stuff. I could eat it with a spoon. I could spread it on big thick slices of really good bread and eat it as a meal. Now, probably not the smartest move I've ever made, but I used ghee to fry the onions in b/c I had it in the kitchen and it's not like I'm going to put it on my fucking toast or anything. (At my house, the kitchen is pretty far from the fire. It is not warm in my kitchen. The ghee is a solid at "room temperature" in my house, this time of year.) Also, I'm out of lard at the moment. Need me some lard, I do. (If you ask me, lard suffers from an image problem. Maybe if we all started calling it manteca instead? Would that sound classier than lard? Would you use it then? Srsly, it's tasty stuff.)
Right, then.
2 teasp. ground coriander
1 teasp. ground cumin
1 teasp. sweet paprika
1 teasp. salt
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. turmeric
4 slices fresh ginger, chopped fine
4 large garlic cloves, chopped fine
1.5 lbs boneless pork loin, cut into 1" cubes
2 T canola oil (I used ghee b/c I had it on hand)
4 black cardamom pods (I used green b/c didn't have black)
2 dried bay leaves
1 cup canned tomato sauce (I blenderized the rest of the can o' tomatoes from the previous recipe)
1/4 cup Fried Onion Paste (see p. 16. Basically, fry onions slowly until they are brown, like you are making French Onion Soup. Then, put 'em in a blender with just enough water to make a smooth paste. When you do this, onions really cook down a boatload, so make lots.)
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro leaves
Mix up to and including the garlic, dump over pork cubes, stir, and let sit for thirty minutes in fridge to season. Heat up oil in large pan, medium high. Add cardamom pods and bay leaves, cook 30 sec. Add pork and stir-fry until browned all over. Add tomato sauce, onion paste, cilantro. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-ish, cover, and cook until done all the way through and soft, about twenty or thirty minutes for pork loin.
It makes its own juice, so don't worry about that even though it looks kind of dry right after you add the tomato sauce and onion paste. Do not worry. There will be sauce enough.
Preliminary tasting (it's in the final cooking phase as I type this to you) suggests that it has a really mild and fine burn. (Otherwise it's fine and tasty, would be good with rice or by itself or with flatbread.) Thing is, I like my curry type things burnier than this looks like it is going to turn out. Cayenne is a delayed-reaction spice, though, so I'm waiting until next tasting to up the voltage if need be. (Next tasting: Needed more cayenne. Call it 3/4 of a teaspoon instead of half. It didn't need *much* more. I've made a note.)
Procedurally, this was a very easy curry to put together. I did have to go make the Fried Onion Paste, but since I managed that while the pork was marinating in its spices, it wasn't like any time was lost. That Fried Onion Paste, damn, that's crazy tasty stuff. I could eat it with a spoon. I could spread it on big thick slices of really good bread and eat it as a meal. Now, probably not the smartest move I've ever made, but I used ghee to fry the onions in b/c I had it in the kitchen and it's not like I'm going to put it on my fucking toast or anything. (At my house, the kitchen is pretty far from the fire. It is not warm in my kitchen. The ghee is a solid at "room temperature" in my house, this time of year.) Also, I'm out of lard at the moment. Need me some lard, I do. (If you ask me, lard suffers from an image problem. Maybe if we all started calling it manteca instead? Would that sound classier than lard? Would you use it then? Srsly, it's tasty stuff.)
