Sorpotel with rice
Goa's Christmas and wedding classic: pork and pig's liver boiled, diced small and cooked in a dark, tangy masala of Kashmiri chillies, whole spices, garlic and ginger ground in vinegar. Make it a day or two ahead: it gets better every day, and the vinegar keeps it. Goans eat it with sannas or pão as often as with rice; older recipes add pig's blood too.
- 1 h 40Time
- 1 hHands-on
- 4Portions
- 56 gprotein per portion
- 750kcal per portion
Ingredients for 4 portions
- 750 gPork shoulder, with its fat, in large pieces
- 250 gPork liver
- ≈ 1 lWater, for boiling
- 1 tspTurmeric
- to tasteSalt
- 15Dried red chillies, Kashmiri, stems removed
- 120 mlVinegar
- 1 tspCumin, seeds
- 1 tspBlack pepper, whole peppercorns
- 8Cloves
- 3 gCinnamon, a 5 cm piece of stick
- 12 clovesGarlic, peeled
- 25 gGinger, roughly chopped
- 2 tbspRefined oil
- 3Onions, finely chopped
- 4Green chillies, slit
- 1 tspSugar
On the side
- 300 gRice
- ≈ 700 mlWater, for the rice
Method
- Put the pork and liver in a large pot with the water, half the turmeric and salt and bring to the boil.
- Skim, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes, until the pork is cooked through and the liver is firm.
- Meanwhile, break the dried chillies into the vinegar and leave them to soak. Finely chop the onions, slit the green chillies, peel the garlic and roughly chop the ginger.
- Grind the chillies with the vinegar, cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, the rest of the turmeric, the garlic and the ginger to a very fine paste.
- Lift out the pork and liver and keep the stock. When cool enough to handle, cut the pork with its fat and the liver into 1 cm dice.
- Heat the oil in a heavy pan and fry the diced pork on a medium flame for about 8 minutes, until the fat runs and the edges turn golden. Add the liver and fry 2 minutes more.
- Add the onions and fry until soft and golden, 6–7 minutes.
- Stir in the masala paste and fry, stirring, for 4–5 minutes, until it darkens and smells cooked. Add a splash of stock if it sticks.
- Add the green chillies, sugar and about 500 ml of the stock. Simmer uncovered on a low flame for 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick and dark, with the gravy clinging to the meat.
- Meanwhile, wash the rice two or three times, put it in a pan with the water and bring to the boil.
- Cover, turn the flame to low and cook for 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed.
- Taste for salt and vinegar: it should be hot and tangy. Serve with the rice or, better still, cool it, keep it in the fridge and reheat it the next day.
