Kodava pandi curry

Shireen Sequeira presents Pandi Curry as Coorgi Pork or Kodava Style Pork Curry. She associates its dark, richly flavored pork-and-spice preparation with Coorg or Kodagu and describes kachampuli as its characteristic sour extract.

The selected pork is cut into cubes with its fat and skin. The written slow-cooking method combines it with chopped garlic, green chili, curry leaves, sliced onion, red chili powder, turmeric, a little oil, water and salt until tender.

A separate home-prepared spice mix uses coriander seeds, selected cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, cumin, mustard, fenugreek and the chosen optional curry leaves. The source calls for these ingredients to be dry-roasted individually and powdered.

That mix is stirred into the cooked pork and simmered on low heat as the cooking water evaporates and the fat separates. The same salt is adjusted if needed, and kachampuli is added at the final taste check.

The author directs that the finished curry be removed from the heat and served hot. This selection uses her rice accompaniment, keeping her alternative rice rottis and neer dosa as separate suggestions. Her account also recalls the household version prepared during a return visit to Mangalore.