The mantra “You eat with your eyes first” is everywhere. At times one could almost think that perfection in plating supersedes the food itself, but I have a confession to make. I seem to have a problem. You see, I have recently come to terms with the fact that I appear to like food that looks like a big pile of glop.
Really, it is almost impossible for a decent looking picture to be taken of many of my meals. Needless to say they do not meet with the beauty ideals of many of the food porn aggregators. But I am not going to let that stop me from eating this messy but divine food. Nor am I going to allow the pretty police to shame me into not sharing the results here. What am I talking about, if you look back in my archives (such as they are) you will see. I’ll wait …
dum, di, dum ………..
Nah, too impatient. Here’s an example for you:
I cannot explain my recent decision to wade into the wilds of Indian cuisine. I have a friend who is mildly obsessed (if that is possible, kinda contradictory) with all things Indian. Never have I really eaten Indian food in a restaurant, except for Tandoori and that doesn’t count. All I know is that I found myself browsing the bulk spices at Your DeKalb Farmer’s Market and for some reason felt compelled to purchase the tub of Madras Curry – Mild. I think it was the Mild that got me, because I am a big fat sissy when it comes to heat.
With my Madras Curry – Mild I made a delicious but horridly ugly Lentil, Potato & Coconut curry that was off some British website. I loved it, and that really surprised me. On my next trip to the library I checked out Julie Sahini’s Introduction to Indian Cooking and haven’t looked back. I have already renewed the due date so I don’t have to take it back too soon.
Gosht Masala: adapted from Introduction to Indian Cooking
The Hardware: Heavy sauce pan, crock pot, rice cooker.
The Software:
1 1/2 lbs Pork Butt in 1 1/2 in chunks
~3 T Canola Oil
2 C Onion, finely chopped
1 T Ginger, Fresh grated
3 t Garlic, minced
2 t Cumin, ground
1 T Coriander, ground
1/4 t Cayenne
1 T Paprika
1 t Tumeric
1 C Tomato sauce
Salt to taste
1) Heat 1 T oil in pan and sear meat on all sides. When nicely browned, remove to the crock pot – pot (or should that be crock pot crock?). Add some more oil and saute the onion for 10 – 15 min, until nice and brown. Use your spoon to make sure the leftover porky bits don’t burn.
2) Add ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, paprika & turmeric to the onions and stir like the dickens – keep scraping with your spoon. Heat for 3 min or just until you think that everything is going to burn, then toss in the tomato sauce. Add in some water ~ 1 C or so, and “deglaze” the pan. Use your spoon to scrape up all the brown gunk the meat left behind, take your time and you will be rewarded.
3) Add salt at this point, but remember you can always add more later. Pour the sauce into the crock pot crock and add more water and/or tomato sauce so that the meat is covered. I didn’t have all day so I cooked it on high for about 3 1/2 hours. I am guessing you could go low and slow for hours. Your goal is to get the meat falling apart tender.
4) Once it is done, it really behooves you to put it in the ‘fridge and let it sit for a couple of hours before you serve it. Overnight is even better, several days ain’t gonna hurt it one bit. Serve over rice.
Hacks:
Well, I actually left out one whole ingredient that the recipe called for, and that is Cilantro. You are supposed to sprinkle 1/3 C of chopped fresh Cilantro over the top at the end. Would probably be extra tasty and might have even made the picture more attractive – but I didn’t have it and this dish was still mmm, mmm, noise making happy.
Also, the original recipe called for boneless leg of Lamb chunks, which I was fresh out of. I did have the pork chunks, 3/4 lbs worth, so I used those and made a half batch. I used my itty bitty crock pot that is normally only used for keeping my Velveeta+Rotel dip from congealing into one creepy, orange cylinder of Midwestern pot-luck disaster, and it worked fine. The non-crock pot directions call for adding the meat back in at step 3 and simmering, covered, for 1 1/2 hours. 1 1/2 hours that I didn’t have to be tending the stove.
Finally, the recipe called for pureed tomato, not tomato sauce. I bought the wrong thing at the store, my guess is the extra onion, garlic and oregano in the sauce didn’t hurt a thing. One thing I did not do was add any veggies, and I really wish I had. Veggies would make this a one pot wonder. The question is, what veggies would be appropriate here? Do any of y’all have any ideas?
And please, don’t say cauliflower.
I hate cauliflower.
Scary Zombie Broccoli vegetable.
May 3, 2009 at 11:41 pm
With Indian food I often eat with my nose first. I just can’t resist the smell of good Indian food.
May 4, 2009 at 11:41 am
I know what you mean. Doing this in the crock pot I had this heavenly scent throughout the house. I had no idea how it was going to taste, but was confident if it tasted anything like it smelled I was in for a treat.
I am guessing that the best place for me to eat Indian is going to be at home because I am just so far down the totem pole as far as heat/spicy tolerance. I love things that are highly spiced – just not spicy.
May 6, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Sorry, I’ve just discovered you’ve got this blog and am playing catch up.
Try to find a northern Indian cuisine restaurant. You know that I am also a notorious heat weenie, and norther Indian style is more closely aligned to Persian, pungent spices like garam masala, but not the horrid torrid heat of southern Indian dishes. A certain Lady J of our mutual acquaintance can likely help you sniff out a few good options, both Indian and Persian close to you.
May 4, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Hm. Green beans? Green beans work in darn near everything. Looks like a great recipe — wonder if I can get it past the Meglet?
May 4, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Why do you say this is ugly? since when do we have beauty standards for food??
This dish looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it and compare it to my grandmother’s recipe!
May 4, 2009 at 8:56 pm
There are food photography sites that post or don’t post submitted pictures based on weather or not the picture is attractive enough.
Frequent rejection reasons include “messy” – and it is really tough to take an elegant picture of curry. It is pretty much glop.
I would love to hear how the recipe measures up to your g-ma. I seriously reduced the amount of cayenne – so it wasn’t spicy at all.
May 5, 2009 at 3:46 am
[…] robbingpeter placed an interesting blog post on A Foray into India: Gosht Masala (sub pork) « Robbing PeterHere’s a brief overviewI cannot explain my recent decision to wade into the wilds of Indian cuisine. I have a friend who is mildly obsessed (if that is possible, kinda contradictory) with all things Indian. Never have I really eaten Indian food in a … […]
May 5, 2009 at 9:48 am
That sounds delicious! I never thought of using tomato sauce in a dish, but it’s good to know it kinda works in a pinch.
*sniff* I am so proud.
I have a big book of vegetarian Indian recipes, if you’d like to take a gander and see what non-cauliflower recipes it’s got. There seem to be a number of tomato and mixed vegetable recipes.
May 12, 2009 at 9:34 pm
My wife keeps trying me to try Indian, and I don’t really know it well enough to be comfortable.
Well, didn’t. Color me intrigued…
May 12, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Yay, with a truly intimidating cuisine I sometimes find it more approachable if you find a good, basic “how to” cookbook. That way you know exactly what is in it.
May 19, 2009 at 9:38 am
just wanted to say a big thank you to you! i made this last week and my mum is still raving about it 🙂
for the tomatoes i used about half a can of tomato sauce and half a can of petite diced tomatoes.
it was so so easy to put together and the pork cooked wonderfully. the flavour was divine, and the aroma in our house? yummmmm 🙂
thank you again!
May 19, 2009 at 2:12 pm
How cool! You are the first person to cook and report! I am so happy it worked out for you. Now I want it again.
October 28, 2011 at 7:12 pm
Great recipe! I added sliced red potatoes in the middle of the cooking process which helped thicken my sauce. I put too much water into it. I also added peas at the end. I added white wine to deglaze after browning the pork. I also, didn’t have cilantro on hand or fresh ginger. Maybe next time. So good, it’s my new favorite pork slow cooker recipe. Next time I will try it with spinach over brown rice:)