Spicy Pork Vindaloo
This famous Goan dish is savory, hot, sour and excitingly spiced. It keeps very well- in fact, it used to be taken on long sea voyages as the vinegar helped preserve the meat for several days.
Ingredients
- 1¼ lb pork, preferably shoulder with a little fat
- 4 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 tsp brown mustard seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 cardamom pods, slit
- 4 cloves
- ½-inch piece cinnamon
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1½-inch knob ginger, chopped
- 10 dried chilies, cut into ¾-inch
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup white vinegar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Cut the pork into 2-inch x ½-inch squares. Put the cumin and mustard seeds, peppercorns, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon in a small pan. Cook over low heat, shaking the pan, until spices smell fragrant, about 1 minute. Grind in a fine powder in a spice grinder and transfer to a large bowl.
- Process the garlic, ginger, chilies to a fine paste and mix with the ground spices. Add the pork, turmeric powder, salt and vinegar. Mix thoroughly and set aside for 4 hours. The meat can be covered and refrigerated overnight if preferred.
- Heat oil in a heavy sauté skillet until moderately hot. Drain the meat, keeping the marinade aside. Stir-fry the meat until it changes color, then add the marinade and cover the pan. Cook over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender, about 1 hour. Serve with steamed rice.