Tribal Pork Curry

I have been travelling to the state of Jharkhand quite often these days, Jharkhand being a tribal state has its own cuisine and eating habits. I have in one of my earlier post talked about Ant Chutni, in this post I will show you through multiple photographs how Traditional Pork Curry is prepared by the local tribal population.

Usually the pork is prepared fresh after its cut in the village market, there are sections dedicated to people who would cook it for you instantly at the open venue. They normally use wood fire to cook the pork. In this post however the process will be the same but the cooking will be inside a kitchen just to maintain the hygiene factor. But however the food is being prepared by a Munda Tribal boy who also happens to be my wife’s cousin brother, he has his own catering business and just on my request agreed to show it himself.

Purchasing Pork

First the pork needs to be purchased fresh from the village market. The villagers use pigs from farms however people vouch the taste of authentic wild pigs which are hunted in the forest. These are difficult to get but the taste in unparalleled. Make sure that there is a perfect mix of meat and fat else the taste will not be good. Cut the meat in to dice shaped pieces, the same applied for the fat also.

Keep some fat pieces separate as these will be used in mix with the cooking oil.

Preparation for Cooking The Meat

Heat very little oil in a deep cooking pot, wait till the heat starts building up then add the fat pieces that had been kept separately. The fat will melt and mix with the oil, this is a very important step as the mix will actually enhance the taste for the dish. By now you will get a distinct smell and know that the fat is mixing well.

Chop lots of onions and add some chopped chillies too. Usually pork curry will have lots of onions as a base thus cut them accordingly.

Add the chopped onions and chillies to the heated oil and fat mix and then fry them till they are golden brown.

Slowly start adding the pork into the pot and keep stirring so that its mixed well.

Add salt to the mix, keep in mind that adding salt will make the meat to release water, this in turn will actually cook the entire dish. Mix it well and wait till the meat and fat starts turning bit brownish.

You need to keep Garlic, Ginger & Coriander Seed wet mix separately and need to add that to the pot slowly. Next goes the Turmeric powder & Chilli powder. Then add the meat masala which is basically Garam Masala.

Keep mixing these so that all the masalas and the meat gets mixed properly and evenly.

Finally add some freshly chopped Tomatoes, please keep in mind that the villagers also use Tamarind paste which makes the dish but sour but some do not prefer it sour like me.

Mix it thoroughly and add a little bit of water which will help the pork to get cooked. Keep the mix on sim and keep till the water dries a little bit and the meat becomes soft. Alternately at this stage you can transfer the mix into a pressure cooker and give it a whistle or two. We did this as we were really hungry and wanted to eat as soon as possible.

Once cooked add some freshly chopped Coriander on top and now it’s ready to be served.

I would like to say thanks to Nikhil Topno who had been a fantastic host and of course a fantastic cook who agreed to all my requests. Will be soon back with another tribal dish from the heartland of Jharkhand.