Pandi curry
Pandi refers to pig in Indian Coorgi language, which is an unusual choice of meat for a curry. The recipe originates from the cooler mountain region of Karnataka, where a lot of wild boars are roaming. The locals who need to hunt for their food, got a taste for the wild boar and started eventually to farm their own domestic pigs. The traditional version of the curry was however cooked using the wild boar over a long time. If you use pork neck for the dish you are going to cook it for 2 to 3 hours. Sometimes I crave a curry but don’t have the time to cook it slowly. Then I use pork filet and it is done in no time without compromising the flavor. The other difference to the original recipes is the type of chili that is used in this curry. It is a tiny chili called parangi malu, which has a very distinctive flavor and makes this dish a favorite during festive celebrations in India. But even with my choice of chili, it is absolutely delicious.
- hand blender, pestle and mortar
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1-2 a large onion, peeled, finely chopped
- 20 curry leaves
- 1 green chili, pierced with a knife
- 10 cm a piece of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled, halved
- 2 tomatoes, quartered
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1-1 1/2 tbsp salt
- freshly grinded black pepper
- 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 6 tsp white vinegar
- 900 g cubed pork filet or 1 kg pork neck, cubed
- 1 tin coconut milk
- 200 g Greek yoghurt
- spice blend
- 3 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 4 tsp coriander seeds
- 6 whole cloves
- 10 cm a cinnamon stick
- 20 black peppercorns, whole
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Heat the oil in a large pot and add the mustard seeds.
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Wait until the mustard seeds stop popping before you add the onion, curry leaves and green chili.
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Then cook until the onions are slightly browned. Keep stirring.
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While the onion mixture is cooking, prepare the spice blend by heating all the spices in a non-stick frying pan until they start releasing their oils (when you start smelling them, in 1 to 2 minutes).
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Put the spice mixture, except for the cinnamon stick, in a pestle and mortar and grind to a fine powder.
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Blend the ginger, garlic and tomato to a fine paste. Add a little water if needed.
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Once the onion mixture is browned, add the tomato mix, the turmeric, salt, cumin, cayenne pepper and the cinnamon stick (from the spice blend) and cook for 6 to 8 minutes.
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Add the pork filet and cook for 3 minutes.
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Now add the coconut milk and let the curry simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. If you are going to use the pork neck, simmer the curry for 2 to 3 hours or until tender.
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Serve with home made rotis (check my butter roti recipe on the website) and Greek yoghurt.