I can’t recommend Meera Sodha’s recipe enough. And, more importantly, this is absolutely NOT the unsavoury clown-nose-red vindaloo of the average curry house. This is a rich and luscious, hot-but-not-overly-hot, meat-melting, delight of a curry.
I’m lucky enough to have access to pig cheeks, rearing my own saddlebacks, but shoulder will do just as well.
Add chilli to your taste, depending on which red chillies you use and how hot they are.
All of the following are Meera’s own ingredients and instructions; I can’t better them. And here’s the link to Meera’s own site with the recipe.
Meera Sodha’s Pig Cheek Vindaloo
- June 19, 2018
- 5-6 Servings
- 3 hr
- Print this
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons oil
- 5 dried red Kashmiri chillies
- 10 cloves
- 1 star anise
- 20 black peppercorns
- 10cm cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 large onions, (red or white) finely sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 4cm ginger, grated
- 200g crushed tinned tomatoes
- 3/4 teaspoons turmeric
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/3 teaspoon salt
- 1 kg pig cheek, cut into 4cm x 3cm pieces
Directions
- Step 1
- Put 1 tablespoon of oil into the pot and heat over a medium heat. When hot add the chillies, pepper, star anise, cinnamon and cumin into a pan and stir-fry until the peppercorns swell and you can smell all the spices.
- Step 2
- Tip the spices out into a spice grinder (coffee grinder or pestle and mortar) and grind together with 4 tablespoons of vinegar and put to one side.
- Step 3
- In the same pot, add 2 tablespoons of oil, when hot, throw in the onions. Cook the onions for 15 minutes on a medium heat until they are soft, browning and caramelized then turn down the heat a little and add the sliced garlic.
- Step 4
- Stir the garlic through and add the grated ginger, stir again then add the tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes then add the spice and vinegar paste, sugar, salt and turmeric. Stir and add the pig cheek.
- Step 5
- Coat the meat with the spice paste then just cover with hot (not boiling) water. Stir and bring to a rolling boil then put the lid on and turn the heat down. Leave to cook for 2 ½ to 3 hours, stirring occasionally and topping up with hot water if need be. The longer you cook it, the more the meat will fall apart (eventually, you would end up with a ragu). When the meat is straining to hold it’s shape is about right for this recipe. Taste, adjust the salt, sugar and spice as you like and serve with steamy rice or soft fluffy naan bread.