Pork Tomato Curry

This meal comes together quickly and without too much effort, so is great for “weeknight” cooking. I have tried both straining the sauce as per the original recipe (see References below) and not. While I do think that straining the sauce makes the dish more “upscale”, I tend to skip that step when just making it for myself. The downside of not straining is that you end up with a high sauce to meat ratio. Therefore, when not straining, I tend to add 2 – 4 more thin-cut pork chops to the mix.

Timings

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Wait: 10 minutes
Total: 30 minutes

Equipment Notes

Ingredients

  • 2T ghee or neutral, high-heat oil, divided
  • 4 thin cut, boneless pork chops
  • 1t salt, divided
  • 1/2t black pepper
  • 1 (about 1C) medium yellow onion
  • 1 jalapeño, seeds removed and diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1T fresh ginger, minced
  • 1T tomato paste
  • 2t garam masala
  • 1g ground cumin
  • 2C (about 4 plum) tomatoes, diced
  • 1/3C water or chicken stock

Sauce

  • 1/4C plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 shallot, minced and rinsed
  • 1T parsley, chopped
  • 1T water

Steps

  1. Pat dry the pork chops and sprinkle on both sides with pepper and half the salt. I like to then place the pork chops on a wire rack and let rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator, but that is totally optional.
  2. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, adding more (or less) water if needed to get the consistency you want.
  3. Add 1T of the ghee or other oil to a pan on medium-high. Heat until the oil starts to shimmer.
  4. Add the pork (in batches if needed) to the pan and cook 2 minutes or until the bottom is lightly browned. Flip and cook another 1 – 2 minutes. I am not trying to fully cook the pork at this point as it will be cooked a little more at the end, so a very light browning on both sides is plenty for me. Depending on your feelings toward possibly undercooked meat, or the thickness of your pork chops, your cooking times per side may be a little more toward 3 – 4 minutes.
  5. Remove the pork chops and set aside.
  6. Add the final 1T of ghee or other oil to the pan and give it a few seconds to come up to temperature. Add the onion, ginger, garlic, jalapeños, and about 1/2t salt. Cook 5 minutes or until the onions start to turn translucent.
  7. Add tomato paste, garam masala, and cumin, and cook 1 minute stirring constantly.
  8. Add tomatoes and water. Bring to a simmer then lower the heat to keep a light simmer going. Cook 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and break apart easily, stirring occasionally. If you are using canned tomatoes, they may be already fairly soft, but cook things for at least 5 minutes.
  9. Optionally pass the sauce through strainer and add it back into the pan.
  10. Raise the heat to medium and add the pork back to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the pork is at a temperature you like.
  11. Pour the sauce evenly over the top, or let people add as they want later.

References