Sri Lankan Peppered Pork and Potato Curry (Throwback Thursday Series)

Original Photo of dish from 2011

This is pork curry is one of my mother's recipes that I love.  She loves to entertain with this dish and it's always a hit. What I like about this dish is that the flavors are so different from your normal meat dishes that have strong curry flavors.  The cardamom and fennel flavors are subtle yet exotic.  It is a wonderful addition to any rice and curry meal.

Note:  Throwback Thursday is a new series where I take some of my original posts here on  Curry and Comfort and redo them so I can take better photos.


Ingredients:
3lbs pork (boned or boneless) *Marinated see marinate below
2 medium onions sliced
4 large potatoes peeled and cut into medium size cubes 
Any variety of bell, banana or cubanelle mild pepper  
2-3Tbs of canola oil
1 cinnamon stick
3-4 pods of cardamom
3-4 cloves
10-12 curry leaves
1 Tbs of grated ginger
1 Tbs of grated garlic
salt and black pepper to taste

Curry Sauce:
10-12 cardamom pods
1Tbs of fennel seeds
1-2 cups of milk



Pork Marinate:
Marinate the pork for about 15-20 minutes before cooking with:
2 Tbs of cider vinegar
1 Tbs of grated ginger
1 Tbs of grated garlic
1 Tbs of canola oil
salt and pepper (be heavy with the pepper).

Directions:

Step 1:
 Cut pork chops into chunks.  If you are using bone-in pork, leave bones because they add flavor. Marinate the pork for about 15-20 minutes before cooking with pork marinate above.

Step 2:
Cut into cubes (slightly bigger than the pork chunks) and boil them. Drain and set aside until later.

 

Step 3: Slice onions and pepper. Mince/grate ginger and garlic for curry.

Step 4: Make the curry sauce by grinding or pounding in either a mortar and pestle or spice grinder the cardamom pods and fennel seeds until coarsely ground.

Add the ground mixture to a bowl and add 1-2 cups of milk. If you want a little extra gravy I would go with the 2 cups.   Let the spice mixture steep in the milk for at least 5-10 minutes.

**note on milk:  My mother uses cow's milk for the recipe.  You can give coconut milk a try too.



Step 5:

After you have all the prep work done it's time to cook the pork. Heat 2-3tbs of oil in a pan and add:
1 cinnamon stick
3-4 pods of cardamom
3-4 cloves
Some curry leaves

Note:
If I ever use cardamom, cloves or cinnamon sticks make sure you discard these items before eating or avoid eating them. They are very strong tasting and are used just to flavor the food, but not so nice if you eat them alone. The curry leaves can be eaten... they are tasty. : )

Add marinated pork and saute'.  Once the pork is opaque add sliced onions and sliced peppers. Also add the remaining 1tbs of garlic and 1tbs of ginger.  Saute all ingredients and cover. Let cook for 10-15 minutes.

Once the pork is cooked through add the boiled potatoes from earlier.  Then strain the spice/ milk mixture with a strainer to the pork dish. You will need to strain the milk mixture because you don't want the pod and fennel pieces in the final dish.  Simmer for another 5 minutes and check for salt.  Serve with rice. Enjoy.

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