Pork Balchao Recipe

Pork balchao

Name: Pork balchao
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 4 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 onion finely chopped; 700g pork shoulder diced; 1 tbsp jaggery or soft dark brown sugar (see notes below); 100ml malt vinegar; to serve chapatis or rice; 2 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp black peppercorns; 8 cloves garlic roughly chopped; 2 thumb-sized pieces ginger chopped; 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder or mild chilli powder (see notes below); 1 tsp ground turmeric

Maunika Gowardhan

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Serves 4

Easy

Total time: 1 hr and 40 mins

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Balchao is a classic in most Goan homes. Often made with prawns, this pork version is divine. Cooked with chilli, vinegar and black pepper, the resultant balchao has a rich consistency, with the spiced gravy clinging to the pork

Gluten free

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Ingredients

Nutrition

4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion

finely chopped
700g pork shoulder

diced
1 tbsp jaggery or soft dark brown sugar

(see notes below)
100ml malt vinegar
to serve chapatis or rice

PASTE

2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
8 cloves garlic

roughly chopped
2 thumb-sized pieces ginger

chopped
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder or mild chilli powder

(see notes below)
1 tsp ground turmeric

Nutrition: per serving

kcal393

low
fat25.4g
saturates5.7g
carbs9g
sugars6.9g
fibre1.8g
protein31.1g
salt0.3g

Method

step 1

To make the paste, use a pestle and mortar to grind the cumin and black pepper to a rough powder, then tip into a small blender or food processor with the remaining paste ingredients and whizz until smooth.
step 2

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed, lidded pan over a medium heat. Fry the onion for 18-20 minutes, stirring well, until deep golden and soft. Add the spice paste and fry for 2 minutes. Add the pork, mix well and cook for 8-10 minutes. Add the sugar, vinegar, 100ml of water and some seasoning. Lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes with a lid on, stirring halfway through. Remove the lid and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Cool slightly and serve with chapatis or rice, if you like.

Kashmiri chillies and chilli powder are a vivid red and have a milder flavour. Jaggery is an unrefined brown sugar with a deep caramel flavour most often sold in blocks. Find all of them, and curry leaves, at Indian grocers, larger supermarkets and online.

Check out more of our best Indian recipes here...

Authors

Maunika Gowardhan

Maunika GowardhanColumnist

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