Sri Lankan black pork curry
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- plus overnight marinating
- Easy
- Serves 4
Ingredients
- 300g pork shoulder, diced
- 300g pork belly, skin and bones removed, diced
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 7 curry leaves
- 2 pandan leaves, chopped
- 3 cardamom pods
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 1 lemongrass stick, gently bruised
- 1 clove
- 8 green chillies, half finely chopped, half finely sliced to garnish
- 3 tbsp chilli powder
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- 1 tbsp roasted curry powder (we used Kolamba's roasted Sri Lankan curry powder)
Marinade
- 2 tbsp coconut vinegar
- 2 tbsp roasted curry powder
- 5 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 5cm piece of ginger finely chopped
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
Method
- STEP 1
Put the pork in a large bowl, add all the marinade ingredients plus 1 tsp of salt and toss together. Transfer to the fridge to marinate for 8 hrs or overnight.
- STEP 2
Put the oil in a large frying pan over a low-medium heat. Gently fry the onion, curry leaves, pandan leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, lemongrass, clove and the finely chopped green chilies for 5 mins until fragrant and the onions have softened. Add the chilli powder and gently fry for a further 2 mins.
- STEP 3
Add the marinated pork and marinade, along with 250ml of water and the tamarind paste. Bring to a brief boil, reduce the heat and cover, cooking for 15 mins over a low heat. Give the pork a good stir, making sure it isn’t sticking to the base of the pan, and cook for a further 10 mins or until the meat is tender. Uncover and cook for another 10 mins. If there is still a lot of gravy, increase the heat to reduce the liquid – the curry should be on the drier side.
- STEP 4
Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the roasted curry powder, then keep the lid on for 10 mins to infuse. Serve with the sliced chillies.