dinner Saturday 9th October 2010

Dinner for three tonight. Husband arrived from a day trip to London late at night. Needed some food that would stay warm in the oven without too much loss of flavour as personal taxi service had to be provided.

There was a quarter of a piece of butternut squash that needed eating. Not enough to make a vegetable sabzi or much of anything really . Dal and pumpkin combination seemed a good choice - the dal would keep warm in the oven and the butternut squash would not end up a mush in the dal either. Toor / tuvar dal is quite earthy in taste and I find that this dal combined with coconut adds richness and flavour.

Menu for the evening

Dal with butternut squash and coconut

Courgette and potato stir fry with sardinian spice mix

Tribal belly pork with onion, ginger, garlic and chillies 

Plain rice

Dal with Butternut squash

serves more than three!

Ingredients

1 cup toor / toovar dal

quarter of a butternut squash, chopped into 1 cm cubes

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin (jeera) powder

few curry leaves

handful of grated coconut - fresh or frozen

1 red chilli, slit in half but not cut right through

Method

1. Boil the dal in two cups of water with the turmeric in a pressure cooker until about three quarters cooked. Some say about three whistles in an Indian prestige pressure cooker.
2. Add the butternut squash and cook until the dal is mushy and the butternut squash is soft but not mushy. The dal should be like pouring double cream so add some more water if needed. Set aside.
3. In another large pan, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds to the hot oil, turn down the heat, and wait until the mustard seeds stop spluttering.
4. Turn up the heat, add the curry leaves and the red chilli followed by the cumin powder. Let the mix fry for about a minute, then add the grated coconut and stir it through the spice mix.
5. Turn down the heat, pour in the lentil /dal mixture and then let it come to a boil once again.
6. Remove from heat, pour into a serving dish.

Tribal belly pork with onion, ginger, garlic and red chillies

SImple tribal food always seems to bring out the flavours so much more and reminds me of childhood days in Shillong and the taste of  doh-neiong - pork - with red rice.  The pork in the UK is so much more different than the pork in the north-east of India - somehow the pork back home has a fatty texture that is a pleasure to bite into.  Some time ago, NG, entered into a discussion lamenting the taste of pork in the UK to a friend who took offence that pork in the UK is not as tasty as it could be.  Rare breed pork is available in the UK but sourcing it is not that easy - we are lucky to have a farm shop in Rothwell, near Leeds where rare breed pork is sold to local people.  Most of the belly pork is ordered by local pubs and restaurants and not much is left for those not in the food business.

In Shillong, the pork was always boiled first - and then it would be cooked accordingly.  In the UK, the pork cooks quickly and I guess there is little risk of worms in the meat!  The ginger, garlic and red chillies would be ground into a paste on a sil- batta - a flat granite stone and a 'pestle' that glides and rolls over the spices rather than a crusher.  Here, it is difficult to make a wet spice mixture in a coffee grinder or make a wet spice mixture in a pestle and mortar easily.  So the ginger and garlic is grated and the chillies are soaked in hot water - they disintegrate when cooking!  In rural areas, the chilli most likely to be used is the very hot Bhoot Jolokia or Naga chilli!

Ingredients 

500g belly pork, cut into 2-3 cm pieces

2 onions - about 250 grams in weight, chopped finely

1 large knob of ginger, grated

4 cloves of garlic, grated or pureed in a pestle and mortar

1 tbsp oil

6 Kashmiri dried red chillies or to taste, tear it up into smaller pieces and soak in hot water that covers it and softens it

salt to taste

Method

1. Heat the oil and fry the onions until golden brown in a medium to low heat.
2. Add the ginger, garlic and red chillies and fry for a few seconds.
3. Add the pork, turn up the heat to high and turn the meat pieces so that they are evenly coated with the mixture.  Add the salt.
4. Turn down the heat to a low setting, cover the meat and cook for about 30 minutes.
5. The pork will release some water and this needs to dry out by the end of cooking.  Keep stirring the meat every five minutes to ensure that the water does not dry out and the meat does not get stuck.  Once the meat is cooked, oil/fat will be released which is more like a spiced sauce with a beautiful vibrant red colour.   
6. Turn out the meat into a serving dish and enjoy.

This pork makes a good combination with steamed sticky rice as well.  The onions add a touch of sweetness which combines well with the spiciness of the ginger and garlic and is a perfect match to the heat of the chilli.