Malaccan (Melaka) Devil's Curry Recipe

Ingredients :

750g (1.5 lb) pork shoulder, boneless

2 tbsp white vinegar

1 tbsp dark soya (soy) sauce

6 shallots or 3 small red onions

1 tbsp oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed

4cm (1.5 inch) piece fresh ginger, sliced

2 tsp grated lengkuas (optional)

1 tsp dried shrimp paste

8-10 dried chilies, crushed

1 heaped tsp mustard seeds, lightly crushed

1 heaped tsp fenugreek seeds, lightly crushed

3/4 tsp turmeric powder, or 2 tsp grated fresh turmeric

1 stalk lemon grass, very finely chopped

6 candlenuts

1 1/4 cups veal or light beef stock

salt

pepper

Method :

Cut pork into 5cm (2 inch) pieces and sprinkle with a mixture of vinegar and soya sauce. Leave to stand for 30 minutes.

Peel and chop shallots or onions. Heat oil in a large saucepan and fry shallots with crushed garlic for 2 minutes. Add sliced ginger, lengkuas (if used), dried shrimp paste chilies and mustard and fenugreek seeds. Stir on moderate heat for 3 minutes, then add turmeric, lemon grass and ground candlenuts. Put in cubed meat and mix well with the seasonings. Turn heat up to brown meat well.

Pour in stock, season with salt and pepper and cover pan tightly. Cook on a moderate heat until meat is tender. Shake pan occasionally to turn meat, but do not open lid for at least the first 20 minutes of cooking.

If liquid dried up too quickly, sprinkle on a little more stock or water to keep meat moist until cooked. When meat is done, the liquid should be completely absorbed and the pan dry.

Note - This recipe came from an old resident of the Portuguese Village on the outskirts of the city of Malacca, where descendants of Portuguese settlers have congregated. Here they still carry on many of the old Portuguese traditions and retain some of the culture their ancestors brought to Malacca in the 16th century. This fiery 'Devil's' curry is an adaptations of the European 'Diable' or devilled dish.

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