Chile-Smothered Pork with Vinegar

[conuly]

I took this from 660 Indian Curries.

Crossposted to cookbook_challenge

Ingredients

1/2 cup cider vinegar or malt vinegar
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
8 slices fresh ginger - 2 inches long, 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick
8 medium cloves garlic
8 dried red Thai or cayenne chiles, stems removed
1 cinnamon stick
1 pound boneless pork loin chops cut into 1 inch cubes
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

Pour the vinegar into a blendar. Add the cumin, ginger, garlic, chiles, cinnamon. PUree to form a pulpy, gritty paste.

Place pork in a bowl, pour paste over it. Sprinkle with salt and turmeric, stir together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or as long as overnight.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and marinade. Cook, uncovered, until it is browned - about 10 minutes. (It says the meat will stew to start but then brown.)

Pour in 1/2 cup of water, deglaze skillet. Reduce heat, cover, simmer until pork is tender, about 15 minutes.

Stir in cilantro and serve.

I carefully cut the amount of chiles in half, and it was still extremely spicy. I like spicy foods more than the rest of the family. I should've known better than to put 4 chiles in anything.

I used a stick of Vietnamese cinnamon instead of the usual cassia cinnamon that you can more easily find. I am not certain that cassia cinnamon would've pureed at all - it takes forever even to grind in a spice grinder.

I served this with rice and with sauteed cauliflower with mustard seeds.

Comments

[wendelah1]

I like the mixture of spices. Interesting note about the cinnamon. I've never tried to grind it, just always substituted powdered. Thai chiles are really hot, at least the kind I can buy. My group is pretty heat-intolerant so I'd either substitute a milder chile or add a pinch of cayenne pepper and call it a day. Those of us who like the heat can always add a dash of hot sauce.

[conuly]

Vietnamese cinnamon, in addition to being much more friable, is also the sort of cinnamon you get in that part of the world, so for those recipes it's "more authentic". It tastes a little different, too.

You can also grate both cassia cinnamon and true cinnamon on a microplane grater, like nutmeg.

[wendelah1]

I don't have a microplane grater but that's also good to know.

[mount_oregano]

Yum. Thanks.

[greghousesgf]

due to covid I may have a hard time getting cumin seeds or cinnamon sticks (I do have the powdered versions) but this sounds yummy!

[conuly]

I order in bulk, preferring to grind my own spices always.