Nonya Pork Curry 🌶🌶 🇲🇾

I have only been to Melacca on the southwestern coast of Malaysia once, but it has etched in my memory as a corner of the world hauntingly rich in history and culture.  It was there I first tasted the Nonya or Peranakan cuisine, passed down through generations of people of mixed Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage living in the area.  Bursting with flavours and colours, their main dishes are usually rich in gravy and full of herbs and spices.  The key ingredients for making this Nonya pork curry are shallots, red chilli paste, lemon grass, curry leaves, tamarind and coconut milk.  Seasoning in form of soy sauce has to be a Chinese influence there.  Make your own chilli paste by grinding the big red dried Kashmiri chillies, available from Asian groceries, with a little water in a food processor.  Lemon grass and curry leaves can be sourced from supermarkets these days, and both of these plants grow well in Perth.  Tamarind paste comes in a jar, coconut milk in a can.  Have fun cooking this amazing curry and let your taste buds be tantalised.  Serve with white rice.

Serves 6

  

INGREDIENTS

• 800g / 1lb 12 oz pork leg or shoulder
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 25g / 1 oz dried large Kashmiri red chillies
• 2 cups Asian purple shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 stalks lemon grass
• 3 tablespoons Malay curry powder
• 4 sprigs curry leaves, plus extra for garnishing
• ½ cup water
• 3 tablespoons tamarind paste
• 400ml / 13½ fl oz coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1½ tablespoons sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons sea salt

METHOD

1. Cut each dried chilli into three sections and place in a colander.  Shake off and discard some of the seeds.  In a bowl, soak them in ½ cup of hot water for about 20 minutes until soften.  Process the chillies with a few tablespoons of the soaking water until a thick paste is formed.  You need about 4 tablespoons of the paste.
2. Trim pork and cut into 2cm /1" thick chunks.
3. Cut off and discard the top green leaves and the very bottom part of the lemon grass.  Peel off the dry outer layers of the white stalks and cut each into three sections.  Bruise them with a kitchen mallet or pestle to release their flavour.
4. Heat 4 tablespoons oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat until not.  Add shallots and stir fry for a minute or so until fragrant.  Add lemon grass, chilli paste, curry powder and curry leaves.  Continue to stir fry for a few minutes, careful not to burn the spice mix.  Add a tablespoon of water if it looks too dry.
5. Add the pork, a few handful at a time.  Stir and toss them around in the pan for about 5 minutes until the pork is well coated with the spice mix.
6. Add the tamarind, water and coconut milk.  Stir to mix well and bring it to a gentle boil.
7. Add soy sauce, sugar and salt.  Reduce the heat to low.  Cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the pork is tender.  Taste the gravy and adjust the seasoning if necessary. 
8. Garnish the curry with a few curry leaves.

Source (with adaptations): foodelicacy