Goa Pork Vindaloo

[Syzygies]

(Adapted from The Great Curries of India)

So 12 lbs of house-cured bone-in pork loin for the neighbors produced a bounty of leftover (very) light ham. What to do? Make up freezer pouches of pork vindaloo:

Clean up and cube 3 lbs of leftover pork loin.

Dice 3 onions and saute in 3/4 cup olive oil.

Make a blender sauce from 2 tsp cumin, 12 cloves, 2 sticks cinnamon, 20 peppercorns, one star anise, 2 tsp poppy seeds (all ground dry), knob peeled ginger, 12 garlic cloves, 2 TB tamarind pulp, 3 TB cider vinegar, 12-15 seeded Guajillo or similar chiles soaked to soften, with their water. Add more water as needed to make the blender go. (A Vita-Prep will have an easy time here, as would the Indian Sumeet processor.)

Combine with onions, simmer and reduce as needed. Add salt (1 tsp or to taste) and a TB or so of palm (or any) sugar, to offset any bitterness from chiles or onions. Add curry leaves if available.

Once the sauce has come together, add the pork cubes and very gently simmer.

We froze in boilable vacuum chamber bags (our favorite and least expensive bags) for pairs of servings for lunches. Our Foodsaver alternative these days is no vacuum, one just needs a sealer with these bags, if a bit of air bubble is acceptable.