2 – 3 tablespoons ghee (coconut or rapeseed (canola) oil)
1 head of garlic – cloves cut into slivers
1 teaspoon brown or black mustard seeds
10 fresh curry leaves (Can skip)
2 onions – finely chopped
3 tomatoes – finely chopped (about 400g)
1 teaspoon chilli powder (more or less to taste)
2 Indian bay leaves (optional)
Juice of one lime or more vinegar to taste
FOR THE VINDAlOO MARINADE
3 dried red chillies
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon black cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
5 cloves
1 inch cassia bark stick
10 black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
4 green chillies – finely chopped
75 ml red wine vinegar (plus more if needed)
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
1 tablespoon tamarind paste (or another two tablespoons of vinegar)
2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
Start with the marinade.
Place all the spices except the turmeric in a dry frying pan over medium heat and roast until they become fragrant and warm to the touch but are not yet smoking.
Transfer to a plate to cool slightly and then pour the spices in a food processor with the turmeric and blend to a fine powder. You could also use a pestle and mortar but that’s a lot more work.
Add the chillies, vinegar, tamarind paste, brown sugar, garlic and ginger and blend to a smooth vindaloo paste.
Put the pork in a large bowl with the marinade and stir well to combine.
Leave the pork to marinate for eight to 48 hours. The longer the better. No time for that? No worries. Marinate as long as you can. It will still be delicious.
To finish
When ready to cook, heat the ghee or oil in a saucepan, large frying pan or wok over low heat.
Add the garlic slivers and allow to cook gently for about 10 minutes. It is important not to burn the garlic so watch carefully. The garlic should be soft and only lightly browned as photographed above.
Remove the garlic from the saucepan and set aside.
Using the same ghee/oil, heat you pan over medium high heat until the oil is beginning to shimmer.
Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle, stir in the curry leaves. Fry for about 15 seconds until the curry leaves are very fragrant and then toss in the chopped onions.
Fry for about 5 minutes over medium high heat until the onions are soft and translucent. Sprinkle a little salt over the onions. This will help release moisture from them.
Add the chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, bay leaves and the pork with its marinade to the pan and then pour in just enough water to cover.
Leave to simmer for about an hour until the pork is very tender. You may need to add a drop more water while simmering.
When the meat is tender, the sauce should taste amazing. Adjust spicing adding more salt if needed and more chilli powder if you want.
