Coconut Pork Curry

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! While it seems for many of us this day involves a lot of effort, pre-planning and countless hours of kitchen duty, don't forget the true meaning and remember to give thanks ... "For fragrant air and cooling breeze, for beauty of the blooming trees...for this new morning with its light...for rest and shelter of the night... for health and food, for love and friends, for everything Thy goodness sends, Father in heaven, we thank Thee."Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

Making curry for dinner when your house is on the market for sale might not be the best thing in the world, but to those of us curry lovers, it smelled like heaven. Adapted from Food & Wine, their version was meant for a slow cooker, but after my debacle the other night I decided to make use of my favorite cast iron Dutch oven instead. 

I had a pound less pork than called for but seasoned it lightly with salt and pepper and coated it in a little flour before browning it up on all sides. Joined by onion, garlic, lots of fresh ginger, I added cayenne pepper to their mix of curry powder, cumin and tumeric. Necessity had the canned diced tomatoes exchanged for a small can of pureed, I used a whole 15 ounce can of light coconut milk and reduced the chicken stock to a mere 1 cup. 

Relegated to a 325 oven in a covered pot, the stew simmered nicely while I did a little more prep work for today's Thanksgiving feast and 2 hours later we enjoyed the most tender, flavorful, sublime curry you could imagine. 

A final note - now while a purist... Lorraine you know who you are :-)... would use spices they ground with their own two hands for this, I used a Madras curry powder purchased in bulk from our local Sprouts store because as you know, we really like the spicy heat but go with whatever curry you prefer. As you may or may not know, curry isn't just one spice but a blend of many and "In addition to chili peppers, Madras curry can also contain spices like turmeric, coriander,cumin, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, fenugreek, allspice, black pepper, and curry leaves" (so sayeth the Wisegeek).

Coconut Pork Curry (from JBug’s Kitchen, adapted from Food & Wine)

3 to 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, in 2 inch cubes

Salt and coarse ground black pepper

All-purpose flour

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced

1-1/2 tablespoons curry powder (I used Madras)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

8 ounces tomato puree

1 – 15 ounce can light coconut milk

1 cup low sodium chicken stock

Preheat oven to 325. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven until shimmering over medium high heat. Season pork cubes lightly with salt and pepper and dust with all-purpose flour, shaking off excess. Brown pork on all sides (in batches if necessary). Do not crowd pan. Move pork to one side of pot when browned. Add onion, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring constantly until onion starts to soften. Stir in curry, cumin, turmeric and cayenne and cook for additional minute, then add tomato puree, coconut milk and chicken stock. Bring pot to a high simmer, cover and place in preheated oven for 1-1/2 hours. Remove lid and continue to cook until sauce is reduced to thickness you prefer and pork is very tender (up to another half hour). Serve over rice. 

A year ago - Pear and Blue Salmon

 

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Comments

[Lea]

Lovely - that is def. something to give thanks for! I give thanks for you, my friend!

[June]

Lea - and I for you!

[Shaun]

Pork curry, what a good idea, right thats tea tonight, my daughter is here so 3 mouths to feed for a change. I shall make my own curry powder mix but I'll also use a ready made paste for extra depth. Popadoms, naan bread and raita...and a cooling lager...sorted!

[June]

Shaun - I'm happy to inspire and your "withs" sound perfect!

[Lorraine]

Well, I will have you know that I do have three or four different bottled curry powders on hand when I want to add some "curry" to a dish and don't want to do the whole toasted spice thing. :0). This one sounds like a keeper with the tomato puree and the coconute milk...love the combo!

[June]

See, now I'm finding new things out about you too so we're even. LOL I thought of you when I was making this. We loved it and can't wait to share it with you on a future soon to be present cold rainy early winter day.

[Shaun]

Mmm this was lovely, never curried pork before. I've managed to get a Kashmiri chilli powder which is not too hot but got an amazing red colour, great for tandoori chicken, but I did sneak in a couple of finely sliced Indonesian birds eye chillies! I'm afraid mine was done in the slow cooker while I drove into town to sort the kids but the aroma was great to come home to, minus 1 and a gale blowing outside, lovely warming curry inside!

[Shaun]

Oh forgot to mention, todays lunch is the left over curry, meat shredded a bit, stuffed in wraps with sauteed onions, peppers and mushrooms, drizzled with the raita, Indian style wedges and some chickpea dhal, one recipe two meals...sorted!

[June]

Shaun - glad you enjoyed it and the extra chillies Kashmiri curry sound wonderful too. It would be just the ticket on a cold, stormy night. As for the leftovers, WOW! Love it!