A dinner that’s easy to prepare and that’s perfect to make a lot of and freeze for those winter nights when you don’t feel like cooking… all you’ll have to do is light the fire, get into your comfy clothes and dinner is served.
A delicious curry is the ideal dish to prepare ahead of time and with the below tips on which pork cuts and cooking methods to use, you’ll be set to create a tasty meal.
From slow-cooking to quicker methods, below are our top choices for pork cuts to use in curry.
For slow-cooking
Pork Belly
It’s an all-time favourite and the most popular cuts to slow roast. It can be slow-roasted in the oven whilst you prepare the next steps in the curry and then add the meat once cooked. During cooking, the excess fat melts and rises to the surface, where it can be skimmed away before serving. Serve up a hearty pork stew with our recommend recipe.
Shoulder or Leg
A shoulder or leg roast is guaranteed to give you that perfect melt-in-your-mouth texture. Once the pork is cooked, you can move onto the next step – tempering the spices. See a great recipe that uses pork shoulder here.
Spare rib
Pork joints can be braised and used in a pork curry. The best way to cook this pork cut is to brown the floured pieces in a pan. This creates a delicious crust that locks in juices and creates flavourful browned bits that stick to the bottom of the pan. Try out this recipe.
Tip: Use a heavy cast-iron or stainless steel pot with a tight-fitting lid for curry, stew and casserole recipes. Slow cooking will make the meat meltingly tender.
Loin
Pork loin can be a slightly drier cut of meat and the slow-cooking keeps the meat moist, which is ideal for stews and curries. This joint can be cut neatly, into the size you’d like for your curry.
Chump End
When diced, it is ideal for stews, curries and casseroles and tends to be more tender than leg.
Quicker cooking time
Lean Pork Tenderloin
Pork tenderloin becomes tender in a shorter amount of time and is commonly diced and used in casseroles and stews as it provide lean, well-textured meat which retains its shape during cooking. We recommend this pork curry recipe for a lean tenderloin cut. A delicious pork tenderloin meal is just a click away.
Helpful tips for cooking a curry
Aromatics
A great curry starts with the first step – the aromatics. You begin the cooking process by sautéing onions, garlic, leeks, or shallots until golden brown. The caramelised, browned surface on these aromatics infuses the stew with rich flavour and fragrance. You remove these from the pot once browned, and use the same pan for the next step.
Coat your meat in flour before cooking
When the meat is seared, the flour coating cooks quickly, sealing juices inside the meat. It also makes an instant mini roux that sticks to the bottom of the pan. A roux is a flour and fat combination and it helps to thicken the curry.
Braising
Add a thin layer of oil to the pot and cook the pork over a medium-high heat ensuring that the edges of the meat quickly sear and brown, but meat remains uncooked. It’s important to brown the meat in batches so as not to overcrowd the pot; if the pan is too crowded, the meat will steam and not brown.
Deglazing the pot
Deglazing is the process of adding liquid, usually wine, to the pot, and boiling while scraping up the browned bits on the bottom. The browned bits dissolve and add rich flavour to the sauce.
Great Today, Even Better Later
Stews and curries taste delicious as soon as the meat becomes tender, and it’s hard to resist diving into the pot when the whole house is filled with the fragrant aroma of simmering wine, onions, herbs and of course pork. If you have leftovers, it’s a must to cool and keep them in the refrigerator overnight. You’ll be rewarded with even better taste the next day, after the flavours have had more time to blend. Or freeze leftovers for up to three months.
Bon appetit!
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