Just Mad Pork Curry

As an Englishman I love my full English breakfast and Sunday roast, but there will always be a place in my heart for a curry. Usually I bought my curries from Indian takeaways - especially meals such as lamb sag, lamb dopiaza, biryani and my favourite which is from a restaurant that I can no longer get to, a lamb and chicken jalfrezi. I got all the trimmings to go with it as well, like onion salad, poppadoms and mango chutney, different types of naan breads, mint yogurts and of course pilau rice. My passion for curries was taken up to another level two years ago, when my friend Neal, brought me for Christmas all the main spices you would need to create your own curry and a book called, "50 great curries of India" by Camellia Panjabi. We jokingly call it the curry Bible.

It has everything as well, from simple curries to quite difficult and complex flavoursome curries, different ways to cook your rice, my favourite being fried browned rice. It contains ways to make chutneys and Indian salads, spicy puddings and different yogurts. It has a great introduction as well, letting you know what and how all Indian spices work and how they should be used. The Just Mad Pork Curry I'm going to explain, has come about from all the curries I have cooked, a bit of trial and error and part based on the recipe for, "making a simple home-style curry" from the curry bible. It actually contains a meat not used in traditional Indian curries, but is still just as tasty as a curry with any other meat. In fact my girlfriend thinks it's the best curry I have made, along side the lamb biryani, which will be making an appearance on my blog in the future. I will say that most curries take a while to prepare and cook, and this curry is no exception, but so long as you have the patience and time then a good curry is well worth it.

What you need for two people

marinade

300g of pork tenderloin

1 tsp ground cumin powder

1 tsp ground coriander powder

half a tsp of garam masala

2 cloves of garlic grated

3 tbsp of vegetable oil

for the curry sauce

4 tbsp of vegetable oil

1 large onion finely sliced

2 cloves of garlic chopped

5mm (1/4 inch) piece of fresh ginger grated

1 and a half tsp coriander seeds

1 and a half tsp of cumin seeds

4 cardamon pods

6 cloves

1 tsp of turmeric

3 tomatoes chopped

3 medium potatoes chopped

3 carrot chopped

Handful of fresh chopped coriander

For this recipe you will need a mortar and pestle

What to do

Right now the work begins, but trust me it will be worth it. First thing remove all the fat from the pork and dice it into chunks of your choosing. Now place the meat into a mixing bowl and add the ground cumin, ground coriander, garam masala, grated garlic and oil. Using your hands mix the pork and spices together making sure to coat the pork fully. Now it's up to you, either leave for a couple of hour or for best results leave over night, which I highly recommend. The key to making a good curry is preparation, so make sure all your ingredients are ready to add to the dish, so you don't waste time worrying if you have this or that. Now before you start cooking, take the pork out of the fridge and let it get to room temperature. I do this for all meats that I cook.

Now let's start cooking. Add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom pods and cloves to a wok and roast over a high heat until the spices start to brown. Then put them into the mortar and pestle and ground it to a really fine powder. Heat the oil in the wok on a high heat and add the sliced onion and saute over a medium heat for about 20-25 minutes or until deep brown. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute. Now add the spice mix from the mortar and pestle and the turmeric and saute for a minute before you add 200ml of water, bring it to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Finally, add the tomatoes, stir well and cook for 5 minutes.

The curry sauce is done. Add your pork, potatoes, carrots and 400ml of water, bring them to the boil and simmer until everything reduces to a thick sauce. This will take about 30-45 minutes. 5 minutes before the end add a handful of fresh chopped coriander and leave some to garnish. Serve with boiled rice or as I like to, fried brown rice which is in the book. I know this recipe seems to be a chore, but any hardcore curry fan will agree that it is well worth it for that perfect curry.

Happy cooking and enjoy!