Recipe contributed by: Subhasree Basu
Subhasree is a media professional who turned into a foodpreneur because she simply loves good food. She is the owner of Hungry Cat Kitchen and has carved a niche for herself in Mumbai for her signature pork dishes.
P for Pork Sambhari by Subhasree Basu
This dish TOTALLY doesn’t exist. But since I dream of pork morning, noon and night I just made it up and it tastes delish, so here we are!
When my friend-cum-business-partner Perzen asked me to pick an alphabet for the AtoZ of Parsi Food Challenge I went completely blank. I have never cooked Parsi, not seriously in my life. But I was pretty sure I wanted to make a pork dish and that’s when lightning struck. How can I best combine the two.. Pork and Parsi?
Growing up in Calcutta, the word sambhar was only associated with the lipsmacking sour dal accompanying dosas. But after I started cooking by myself in Mumbai I realized that sambhar is a generic term for a powder made of mixed spices. And then I discovered the Parsi sambhar masala about a decade later. This masala, available commercially in some shops in Mumbai is fragrant with sharp notes of garam masala.
Sambhari Pork Chops, Puri & Chettinad style Pork
Following is my take on a pork rib recipe with Parsi sambhar. Eat it as an appetizer or with potato mash or a salad. You can also add a portion of cashew rice or coconut rice to make a complete meal of it.
So go ahead and cook this super easy dish at home and enthrall your guests. It has some serious punch and a whole lot of familiar flavors but it will also leave everyone guessing what went into it!
Bawi Bride’s Note:
If Parsi Sambhar masala is commercially not available near you, you can make it at home too using this awesome recipe from a fellow blogger, Cheeky Chilli who has done a lovely post analysing what goes into it and how it is different from all our other masala’s.
Pork Sambhari
Parsis love eating their bacon and pork but not many cook with it. Here's a simple recipe for making Pork Ribs at home, Parsi style.
- Prep Time: 30m
- Cook Time: 45m
- Total Time: 1h 15m
- Serves: 3
- Category: International Favourites Bawa-fied
Ingredients
- 6 medium sized pork ribs/chops
- 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin
- 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds
- 2 dry Kashmiri chillies
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 fat cloves garlic, peeled, whole
- 1 sprig curry leaves, mature leaves preferably
- 2 -3 tablespoon tamarind pulp, depending on taste
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 teaspoons Parsi Sambhar Masala
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry the pork ribs.
- Apply salt and fry in a tsp of oil till both sides are slightly browned.
- Pressure cook with a cup of water and ginger-garlic paste for about 20 mins (put it on simmer after 2 whistles). Depending on your meat-to-fat ratio the cooking time may differ. Cook till it is of the consistency you like. Let it cool on its own before you open the lid of the cooker.
- Separately dry roast the cumin, sesame seeds, chillies, pepper, whole garlic cloves and curry leaves in a frying pan making sure they don’t burn.
- Cool slightly, then grind it to a paste with the tamarind pulp, sugar and Parsi sambhar masala. Add a little water to make it saucy.
- Add the ribs along with the stock from the cooker into a frying pan, add the masala paste and cook on high heat till the sauce is thick & sticky, about 3 mins.
- Garnish with fried curry leaves if you want.
This post is part of my ongoing series on the blog, the A to Z of Parsi Food which has been curated in collaboration with Parsi food enthusiasts globally. For more interesting recipes follow the hashtag #AtoZChallenge mentioned below.
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