Pork Curry with Lai Xaak (Mustard spinach/ tender green)

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients:

Fresh Pork Meat (cut into small pieces as shown in the photo) 1 K.G.

Laai Xaak (Mustard Greens) [BTW, this was home grown :), straight from Assam]

Fresh Lai Xaak (Mustard spinach/ tender green) 1 bunch

Garlic 8 cloves
Ginger 1 inch
Green Chilies 5 nos
Turmeric Powder 1 tsp
Red Chilly Powder 1 tsp
Cumin powder half tsp
Onions 2 nos
Salt to taste

Optional:

Medium sized tomato 1 no
Big sized potato 1 no

P.S. Most of the Assamese non-vegetarian dishes traditionally contain potato as one of the mandatory ingredient.

Preparation:

Wash the meat properly and keep a few fat pieces (5-6 medium sized) aside from rest of the meat
Take the garlic cloves, remove the skin, and then crush them to a coarse paste. Need not be a fine paste.
Crush ginger and mix it with the garlic
Cut the onions in thin slices
Slit the green chilies lengthwise in two halves
Cut the tomato in 4 halves
Cut the potato in 8 parts


Cooking:

Put a wide pressure cooker on stove and heat it in medium flame till its complete dry and warm. Do not overheat the cooker.
Put the fat pieces which you kept separately after washing into the cooker and make sure they do not stick to the cooker. Keep stirring the pieces with medium flame one.
Oil will come out from the fat pieces slowly and the color of the fat pieces will turn from golden to light brown. (If you want to take out the oil from the pieces faster, then u put the flame to bit on the higher side and cover the cooker temporarily.)
Once sufficient amount of oil comes out, put the cut onions in the cooker and stir fry them till they become golden brown.
Then put the rest of the pork in the cooker and increase the flame.
Put turmeric and red chilly powder and little bit of cumin (jeera) powder if you like and mix them well with the pork. Leave it on medium high flame for 2-3 minutes
Once oil starts coming out reduce the flame and put the ginger garlic paste you prepared. Mix them well with the meat and cover the cooker and leave it for 2-3 minutes.
Uncover the cooker and put the cut potatoes, if you had done it and put the flame at medium heat. Keep frying them for sometime and then put the lid back and let it cook on low heat.
Once the meat is somewhat cooked, take the laai leafs and tear them into small portions by hand and put them in the pressure cooker. You can put small amount of leafs so that you can keep mixing them with the meat by stirring.
Put the lid back on the cooker and reduce the flame. Keep it covered for 5 minutes.
At this point of time, you should get the aroma of Laai xaak and the pork. Check if the leafs are starting to form a lump, then add the tomatoes in the cooker. Fry them in low flame till they start to melt.
Add the slit green chilies and salt.
Add a cup of hot water and increase the flame.
Once the curry starts boiling, put the lid clipped on the cooker and let pressure cook it for 5/6 whistles.
Take the cooker out of the stove and let it cool naturally. Once you can open the cooker, put it back on the stove and mix the curry and the meat properly. Sprinkle some fresh coriander over it and serve hot with rice. Here it would look like:

Gahori Lai Xaak: Home Cooked

We are adding this picture of home-cooked dish as an update on request from a few of you out there :)