Kalu Pol Pork

So this recipe has been one that was requested by many on Instagram for a long long time. What deterred name from sharing this was the simple fact that I just couldn't bring myself to part with it because of how special this recipe was, and the few times I tried to write it, I broke down . I never really learned to make this from my mother because she herself only cooked this recipe very rarely for special occasions. We had a Buddhist household which meant that my mother wasn't keen on bringing pork or beef into the house. However I do remember one July in 2008 when my uncle (her younger brother) was visiting from Canada and my uncle requested this recipe from her. I still remember what my mother made -- ghee rice, this black pork curry, අල කිරි හොදි (potatoes in coconut milk), coconut sambol, අන්නාසි තෙල් දාලා (pineapple fry), papadams, deep fried curd chilies, moju and salad.

When my mother passed, I had to figure this recipe out on my own. I've recipe tested different cuts, different balances of spices, different methods of cooking and finally arrived at the version that tasted most like my mother's. Perhaps the best measure of my success was when my father, a man of very few words, ate my version on one evening during a trip to Adelaide and quietly said "it tastes just like Ammi's".

Recipe notes:

Black Pork Curry vs Kalu Pol Pork: The term "black pork" curry is used interchanegably within Sri Lanka but it is important to note that these are two different dishes.Black pork curry and kalu pol pork essentially adhere to the same method of cooking, however black pork curry achieves its thick, luscious "blackened"" effect through the use of garcinia and black pepper and a long cooking time, whereas kalu pol pork employs the use of roasted coconut.

Which cut: i have made this recipe with pork belly, I've made it with pork shoulder and I've found that the best curry is made with a combination of the two.

Blaching vs Searing: This pork is twice cooked because I find that this always yields the best flavour, helps remove that "mooey" smell from the pork but also gives you a spoon tender piece of pork to bite into!

The reason why I blanch the pork instead of searing it comes down to the fattiness of the pork. Unlike beef, where searing serves the very vital process of trapping the blood in the middle of the meat to ensure the meat doesn't dry out, with pork, this isn't a necessity. If you choose to sear the cubes of pork prior to marinating them you definitely can. However be mindful that if you using a fatty cut of pork like belly, the searing process won't necessarily help in rendering the gelatinous fat off. What the blanching does is remove impurities and more importantly, the impure fats from the surface of the pork.

Pressure Cooking to save time: It is recommended that this curry is slow cooked over an open flame, however if you are short on time, you can pressure cook the marinated pork. Pressure cook for 15 minutes at a medium setting on an electric pressure cooker, or for 1 whistle on a manual one.

With that in mind, let's begin!

Method

Part 1

For the pre-cooking

• 1kg pork shoulder/pork neck or pork belly (a mix of these cuts will also work well)

• 1 outer bark piece of cinnamon

• 5-6 cardamom pods

• 4-5 cloves

• 1 piece of pandan leaf

• 1 inch piece of ginger, halved

• 1 bruised lemongrass stick

For the curry paste marinade

• 1 tbs Chili powder

• 3 tsp Garlic paste

• 3 tsp Ginger paste

• 2 tbs black pepper (freshly ground recommended)

• 1 tbs goraka paste

• 3 tsp cumin

• 2 tsp unroasted curry powder

• 2-3tsp salt

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 100ml white vinegar

Whack everything into a pan and cover with enough water to submerge the meat. Pop onto the stove on a high heat

Boil until the muck comes up to the surface. Remove the muck with a clean spoon. Let the pork cook down with the heat turned off. I definitely recommend using the pork stock to make the curry sauce later. It's not imperative that you do this, but it does make your curry very flavoursome.

Next, cut the pork pieces into large chunks and combine together the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Do not worry if the pieces are a bit pink in the middle -- you are going to be re-cooking this.

Rub the marinade into the pork and allow to marinate for a minimum for 4 hours. I usually marinade my pork about 1-2 days before making this because it really allows a chance for the flavours to penetrate into the meat.

If you are pressure cooking the pork, this is the time to do so.

Part 2 - Kalu Pol

For the kalupol

• 1/2 cup of dry white rice

• 1/2 cup of dessicated coconut

• 2-3 sprigs of curry leaves

• 5cm piece pandan

• t tbs black mustard seed

• 1 tbs dark roasted Sri Lankan curry powder

Bung everything into a dry pan and dry roast until the rice and coconut are well toasted

It is important to ensure that you dry roast everything really well but that you don't burn it. Now kalu pol is not an essential element for the pork curry and you can skip this step, but this fragrant coconut-rice mixture just makes the pork truly sing, and I highly recommend using it. If you have a spice grinder, go ahead and grind the mix into a fine powder. I used a mortar and pestle so my mix was a bit chunkier -- personally I don't mind it!

Part 3 - The Curry

• 1 stick of lemongrass, bruised

• 1 medium red onion, diced (2 shallots or eschallots will work just as well)

• 1 sprig curry leaves

• 2.5cm pieces of pandan leaf (two to three pieces)

• 5cm piece of ginger chopped or pounded

• 1 small green chilie, sliced (or half a large one)

• 2-3 pieces of Sri Lankan cinnamon

• 4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped or pounded

• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds

• ½ tsp cloves

• 1 tbs sugar

• ½ tsp cardamom pods

• 2 tbs Sri Lankan dark roast curry powder

• 1 tbs ground black pepper

• 1 tbs cumin powder

• 3 tsp chilie powder

• 1/2 cup coconut milk

• 1-2 cups of water (or pork stock made earlier)

• 1 tbs coconut oil

• ½ cup of the prepared kalu pol mix

Prep everything as directed on the above ingredient list

Add oil to a large, heavy bottomed pan or a clay pot. Once the oil is at temperature, add in all the fresh aromats and fry off for 2-3 minutes. You should ideally start by frying the whole spices like cinnamon, cardamom and lemongrass first, then followed by the softer aromats such as curry leaves, onion, garlic, etc. Then add in the spices.

Once all the aromats and spices are in, make sure you really fry these off until they are dark and fragrant. This step is important because this creates the flavour base for your dish.

Add in the marinated pork. At this stage the curry will be fairly dry, but do not worry about that because water will be added to the curry. Add the sugar in at this stage too. Add in 1 cup of water and mix through. If the water isn't enough to cover the meat fairly well, add in more water, 1/2 cup at a time until the pork is almost submerged. At this stage, check for salt. You can also opt into add coconut milk a this stage (and often times I do), but I find that stirring the milk in at the end of the cooking actually gives a tad more richness and lushnress.

Clamp on a lid and let the curry cook on a low flame for 1.5-2 hours (possibly longer depending on how much meat you are using). I love using a cast iron Dutch Oven for this reason because it really seals in flavour. Unfortunately, looking for the right melt in your mouth texture is not something that can be taught through a written recipe -- you need to test a piece of pork with a fork to see how easily it falls apart and go from there.

Once the pork is tender, finish the curry with the kalu pol mix. You can omit this step if you wish to have a regular dark pork curry, but this is how my mother made it, and this is my preferred way of cooking it. The kalu pol adds richness and thickness to the curry and the lovely toasted aroma of the rice and coconut adds a beautiful, rounded earthiness. Once you've added the kalu pol. turn the heat off immediately. Let the curry sit in the residual heat for about 5 minutes, and then stir in the coconut milk at the end. The coconut milk is optional, but it adds a subtle creamy note to the background flavour.

And now, all there's left to do is enjoy! I personally love eating this with my mother's classic pairings of pineapple, ala kiri hodi and the other trappings, but this goes perfectly well with roti, bread and other carby mains! I do hope you enjoy this recipe, and I cannot wait to see and share all the feedback!

Sav xx