Pigeon Cottage Kitchen

I love curries made with chicken, beef or lamb but this pork curry is one of my absolute favourites. You need good quality shoulder pork from a proper butcher that’s been chopped into nice hearty chunks. It should be marbled with fat so that it stays beautifully tender. I serve it with some plain basmati rice to mop up the delicious sauce and some lightly steamed French beans but don’t even think of having it without the fresh pineapple and red onion chutney – that’s what transforms it from good to great!

• 1 kg boneless pork shoulder cut into rough chunks
• 6 large banana shallots, sliced
• 100g garlic, peeled
• 30g fresh ginger, chopped
• 6 green chillies, chop 5 without the seeds, retain one for the garnish
• 1 tbsp black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 cloves
• 5cm stick of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1 tsp salt
• 75ml tamarind liquid (use lemon juice if you can’t find tamarind)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• Fresh coriander to garnish
• Pineapple and red onion chutney: 1 small red onion, thinly sliced. 2 tbsps cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt. 1 small pineapple – peeled, quartered and chopped into small chunks. 1 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped.

• To make…
• For the pineapple chutney, dissolve the salt and sugar in the vinegar and then toss the onions in it and leave to marinate for an hour. Strain off any excess liquid, mix in the pineapple chunks and the coriander.
• First, make the base cooking paste. Put the shallots, garlic, ginger, chillies and a splash of water into a jug and whizz into a paste with a stick blender or blitz it in a mini-blender.
• Preheat the oven to 150C.
• Fry the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cloves and cinnamon in a dry frying pan over medium heat until they are all lightly toasted. Add the turmeric and black pepper for another 20 seconds. Take it off the heat, allow it to cool and then bring it into a powder. I use an electric coffee grinder that I keep especially for that purpose.
• Heat the oil in a heavy pan. This will go into the oven eventually so I use a heavy base casserole.
• Add the pork in batches to avoid lowering the temperature of the pan so the meat steams rather than browns. Remove each batch and set it aside on a clean plate. Keep browning each batch. Once every batch is nice and browned, return them all to the pan and add the paste, spice mix and salt. Fry again for another 5 minutes. Pour over the stock and bring to a simmer. The stock should barely cover the meat so don’t add too much.
• Add the lid to the pan and braise in the oven for an hour and a half until the pork is meltingly tender. Give it another half an hour if it isn’t! If the sauce is a little watery, I scoop out the meat and set it aside on a plate and then put the casserole back on the hob uncovered and reduce the sauce on a rapid simmer. Once the sauce is the thickness you want, add the meat back in, pour in the tamarind and the ground coriander. Transfer to a warmed serving dish and garnish with fresh coriander and the last green chilli, finely sliced.
• Serve with the pineapple and red onion chutney, some lightly steamed green beans and fragrant basmati rice.

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