Sorpatel (Spicy Goan Pork Curry) Recipe

By
Petrina Verma Sarkar
Petrina Verma Sarkar
Food writer Petrina Verma Sarkar is a native of India with extensive knowledge of the country's regional cuisines.
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Updated on 06/6/22
White Bowl filled with red curry that includes beef and vegetables such as green beans

Barameerat Jantarasriwongs / Getty Images

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 90 mins
Total: 105 mins
Servings: 12 servings

This popular Goan curry is traditionally made with pork meat and various other organs like the liver, intestines, heart, and tongue. Traditional recipes even call for pig blood! While the purists may disagree on this point, you can still make sorpatel with just the meat and liver, and it would be just as tasty.

As with most Indian recipes, the ingredient list may look long and daunting, but once you have these items in your pantry, it's really easy to put together. Also, while the end flavors might be foreign and may seem complex, the dish is often easy to cook if the recipe is carefully followed. Once you learn how this dish work, you'll be experimenting with your own combinations.

Make Sorpatel a couple of days ahead of the time you want to eat it and refrigerate—it tastes even better when left to rest (it even freezes well). It is traditionally eaten on a bed of fat rice, a type of thick-grained rice that is usually sold par-boiled in coastal, western India.

Ingredients

  • 1 kilogram (2 pounds) pork meat (fat removed and chopped into small 1/2-inch pieces)
  • 1/2 kilogram (1 pound) pork liver (chopped into small 1/2-inch pieces)
  • 2/3 cup white vinegar (4.5 fluid ounces)
  • 20 dry red chiles
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • 7 to 8 peppercorns
  • 6 cloves
  • 1 stick of cinnamon (1 inch)
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (canola, or sunflower)
  • 2 large onions (chopped fine)
  • 15 cloves of garlic (made into a paste)
  • 1 piece of ginger (thumb-sized, made into a paste)
  • 1 lump of tamarind (golf ball sized, soaked in 1/4 cup of hot water)
  • For Serving:
  • 6 cups cooked white rice

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Grind the whole spices (dry red chiles, cumin and coriander seeds, cinnamon, cloves, and peppercorns) in the vinegar and keep aside.

  3. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan on a medium flame and add the meat and liver. Stir fry in their fat until light brown. When done, you must remove it from the pan and keep aside.

  4. Put the oil in the pan and heat on a medium flame. Add the onion and fry till light brown. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and fry for 2 minutes.

  5. Add the ground masala paste made earlier and fry until the oil separates from it.

  6. Add the fried pork liver and meat, the tamarind puree, salt to taste, and mix well.

  7. Turn the fire down to a simmer and cook until the meat and liver are tender.

  8. Serve hot with plain boiled rice or Jeera rice and a green salad.

  9. Enjoy.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
808 Calories
36g Fat
46g Carbs
76g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories 808
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 36g 46%
Saturated Fat 12g 61%
Cholesterol 217mg 72%
Sodium 794mg 35%
Total Carbohydrate 46g 17%
Dietary Fiber 9g 34%
Protein 76g
Calcium 220mg 17%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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