Soor Vindaloo (curried Pork)

Submitted by FlemishMinx

"This recipe came from another site and varies from the other Pork Vindaloo recipes already posted here on 'Zaar, so I'm including it. It is spicy, flavorful, uses a relatively inexpensive cut of meat and is one of our favorites. It isn't any harder to make than a pot of chili. I serve over rice with a plain steamed vegetable on the side. Note to those who have never made a curry before, or have only used pre-packaged curry powder: don't be intimidated by the long list of "exotic" spices ! Once you've bought them for one recipe, you'll be using them over and over again for other curries. Enjoy !"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 35mins
• Ingredients: 18
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 6 cloves garlic, chopped and divided
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped,divided
• 4 red chilies, coarsely chopped and seeded (or not depending on your heat tolerance)
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar, divided
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 lb tomatoes, chopped
• 2 lbs pork shoulder, trimmed of fat and cubed
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1⁄2 cups boiling water
• 5 curry leaves, chopped
• 6 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon sugar

directions

1. In a blender or electric chopper, add 4 of the chopped garlic cloves, half the ginger, the red chilis, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, turmeric, cumin and half the vinegar.
2. Blend/chop until a homogeneous paste is formed.
3. In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil and fry the onions until golden.
4. Add the spice paste and saute gently for 15 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and continue to cook, breaking them up in the pot with the back of a wooden spoon.
6. When the tomatoes have begun to incorporate with the rest of the mixture (only a few minutes) add the pork and stir and cook until all the pieces have browned and are well coated with the spice mixture.
7. This should take 5 to 10 minutes.
8. Add the salt and pour in the boiling water.
9. Simmer, covered for 40 minutes to one hour until the pork is tender.
10. I usually remove the cover for the last 10 minutes and increase the heat slightly to reduce the liquids.
11. You may also add 1 TBS cornstarch at this point if you want a sauce with more body.
12. Add the remaining chopped garlic and ginger, along with the curry leaves, cloves, and cinnamon stick.
13. Cook a further 5 minutes.
14. Add the sugar and remaining vinegar, and more salt if desired.
15. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving (and the cloves if you can fish them out, or caution your diners that they still remain!).

Reviews

[JustJanS]

While this was a well written recipe that resulted in a tasty stew of well cooked onions, tomato and tender meat, as a vindaloo, it was a bit underwhelming. I think it was under chillied and spiced for the amount of meat and would definately increase the ginger, cumin, turmeric, chili and salt and add a bit of Indian chilli powder.

 

[mianbao]

Wow! This was good yesterday, when I made it, but it's absolutely fantastic today. I love the spice combination, especially the fenugreek. I did cut down considerably on the heat. I also added carrots and potatoes to make it more like a curry stew. Oh, and used dried curry leaves, as that was all I could get. They may have added a little flavor. Thank you very much for posting this recipe. I look forward to making it again.

 

[Roosie]

This was the first Indian recipe I have tried that is made with pork and it was really great. I changed the cooking method just slightly- my food processor wouldn't really make a spice paste, so we added the onions and tomatoes and made an onion paste as I have made in many other Indian recipes. I didn't have the curry leaves (haven't been able to find them, I don't know why)- 'Zaar's kitchen dictionary says they "look like small bay leaves and smell like limes" so I used 2 bay leaves and 1/2 a fresh keffir lime leaf instead. I used black mustard seeds as that's what I have on-hand and that's what most Indian recipes I have made use. I was really impressed with the spicing. I thought it was just right, very well blended and balanced. We served over rice with Garbanzo Beans (chole) #91128 and a Madhur Jaffrey recipe for cauliflower with tomatoes and onion. Thanks for the great recipe- it was the highlight of my Indian feast. ;)