Alrighty, here’s another OPOS recipe. Pork is one of my favorite red meats and I love making pork at home.. I buy my pork from MG Road Ham Shop, Meatmart which is one of its branch and online at New Karnataka Ham shop especially during this lockdown.
Gongura or sorrel leaves are these tangy tasting lovelies largely eaten in the Andhra region… These are so popular and staple that its added to almost all their food, including lentils, curries and meat. The Gongura chutney is ubiquitous in Andhra and no meal is complete without this as an accompaniment.
If you search recipes in the internet, you will come across all kinds of recipes using Gongura especially mutton and chicken dishes.. I have even found recipes for fish. What I didn’t find was any pork recipe using gongura and so I thought to myself, why not? If there isn’t any, lets create it !
The concept is very similar to the Kodava Pandi curry which has proteins (pork), spices (pepper, cumin, coriander, dry spices) , ginger garlic paste, accompaniment veggies like onions and chillies and a souring/tenderizing agent which is the kachi puli (a vinegar extracted from cocum)
The gongura pork just replaces the kachi puli with the gongura/sorrel leaves. I have left the rest of the ingredients the same. So shall we make?
Before we do, the process described here is OPOS which means One Pot one Shot. This technique might change your life and the way you cook !
Ingredients for OPOS Gongura Pork
Gongura/Sorrel Leaves – 2 Handfulls
Pork – Small pieces for better cooking and getting those flavors. I like a percentage of 70% meat and 30% fat. The fat is important for the grease and flavor
Marination spices
Turmeric 1 tsp
Chilli powder 2 tsp
Salt 2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste 1 tbps
Overnight is good, the longer the better. I usually marinate it for 4-5 days but overnight works as well
Lets make Pork Gongura!
Take a 2 litre or 3 litre cooker (bigger will not help)
Layer 1 – pork lard 4 tbs (rest from the pork fat in the pieces). If you dont have pork lard use normal oil.
Layer 2 – half kg marinated pork
Layer 3 – 2 handfulls washed gongura leaves
Close the cooker and cook on high for 10 mins, drain the excess oil (for further use. Remember this has pork fat now) and mix. I use induction and my high is set to 1200.
The advantage of the OPOS process is its quick, intense and the color comes out brilliant. When the taste of gongura blends with the pork pieces and fat, the taste is amazing. I added a little bhut Jolokia sauce to my portion of the pork. Yeah I like it hot 😁. You can also add a few green chillies with the gongura for more intense raw heat.
Advantages of OPOS
- Super Fast cooking
- Less oil used
- Intense and fresh flavors.
- Less vessels to wash
- Less gas/induction (electricity)
- Consistent results every single time unless you deviate from the ingredient quantity
Equipment for OPOS
- 2 litre or 3 litre pressure cooker of a reputed company (don’t come back to me with a burnt face :D)
- induction (preferable) or gas stove
- measuring cups
- blender
Standardizing the pressure cooker
Heat 1/4C (60ml) water in 2L cooker on high so the first whistle comes between 1 and 2 minutes. If you get it in less than 1 minute, decrease heat and if 2 minutes, increase heat. In induction, I work with 900 to 1100 (highest I use)
Did you enjoy that?
- Some more OPOS recipes
- Join Opos Support Group on Facebook for more info
Looks good…