Pork Indad |Sweet-Sour-Spicy Pork
I have a hilarious story for you today. It is about my first attempt at making this dish. The year was 2017 and I had just moved closer to Munich, from the beautiful city of Stuttgart.
I was yet to furnish my new place completely. Windows had no curtains and hence would roll down the shutters as soon as it went dark. It was peak winter and daylight would fade pretty quick and it would be pitch dark by 5pm. On Christmas eve I decided to make some Pork Indad.
Procured the meat, cleaned and sliced it and came to the part where I have to fry the meat. Added ghee to the pan and went to the living room for a not so brief moment. When I returned to the kitchen, the ghee was smoking. The amateur me, added the pork meat to the smoking pan.
Smoked meat?
Next thing I know, the smoke alarm outside my kitchen went off. I panicked, picked up the pan and decided to run to the living room balcony only to find the shutters down. The next thing I know is the living room smoke alarm went off and my brain kind of shut-off and I rushed towards the bedroom (window shutters were down there too) and set off the smoke alarm there too. Here I was, in my own apartment running like a headless chicken with a smoking pan in hand and three smoke alarms blaring.
The next thing I know, I rushed back to the kitchen, managed to transfer the pork to a plate and off went the pan into the kitchen sink. From there, I rushed to open the shutters to ventilate the apartment (it was -10° C outside. Brrrrrr!) and managed to turn off the alarms. Took me a while to regain my composure and I was back in the kitchen cooking the Indad. Needless to say, the dish didn’t turn out as expected because I was hesitant to fry the pork and this dish requires that the meat is fried quite well.
About the Pork Indad
Pork Indad is the sweeter among Mangalorean Pork Dishes and was a banquet speciality, but is now a rarity. It consists of thick chunks of sliced Pork, marinated, fried and cooked in a signature masala blend to a thickish gravy consistency. The flavour profile of this dish is sweet/ sour/ spicy with neither of them overpowering each other.
Pork Indad goes very well with Mangalorean rice based preparations like Sanna and Paan-poley. But, this goes best with the Sweet Pulao and Plum Chutney to form an amazing trio! Try out this dish and let me know your thoughts.
Pork Indad
Ingredients
- 1 kg Pork belly, sliced and cut into 1.5 inch wide pieces, washed and drained
- 1 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- Vegetable oil / Pork fat, as required, for frying
For the Masala:
- 12 Dry red chillies, Long I used Kumti
- 2 Dry red chillies, Short I used Ramnad
- 8-10 Black peppercorns
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 4 inch Cinnamon
- 1 pod Garlic Cloves
- ½ tsp Poppy seeds
- ½ tsp Mustard seeds
- ½ tbsp Raw rice
- 2 Onions, Large, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp Vinegar
- Tamarind, marble ball sized
- 2 tbsp Raisins (see notes)
- 1 tbsp Mint leaves, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp Brown sugar
- Beetroot, 1 thick slice skin peeled off (see notes)
Instructions
Marinating the Pork:
- Apply salt and turmeric to the pork cubes and marinate for about 3 hours (preferably overnight)
Preparing the Masala:
- Dry roast the red chillies, peppercorns, cumin seeds, cinnamon, garlic cloves, poppy seeds, mustard seeds, and raw rice on low flame till you get a nice aroma and the rice is browned a bit. Take it out on a plate and let it cool. Next roast the onions till translucent and allow to cool
- Once cooled, grind the roasted ingredients along with the tamarind, and raisins to a smooth paste, using the vinegar and little water. Retain the masala water from the mixer
Frying the Pork:
- While the roasted ingredients are cooling,we can start frying the pork. Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the pork on medium heat until the pieces are browned. Ensure not to burn them. Cover and fry them, checking in between. Once they are browned well enough, take them out to a plate.
Preparing the Indad:
- In the same pan that we fried the pork, take some more oil, and fry the masala until the raw smell vanishes and the masala thickens and darkens a bit. Add the fried pork and mix well until the pieces are well coated.
- Grind the beetroot slice (see notes) with the masala water and add to the pan. Add some more water if needed and cover and cook for 5 minutes on medium flame
- Add the mint leaves and brown sugar and mix well and continue to cover and cook until the water is absorbed, and the gravy has thickened and pork is well cooked.
- Check the taste and adjust the salt, vinegar and sugar if needed. Serve hot!
Notes
- This dish tastes best with a layer of fat on each piece and hence I’ve used the Pork belly.
- You can substitute the 2 tbsp of raisins with 4-5 Dates
- The proportions of the ingredients are based on my taste preference. Feel free to experiment with the proportions to suit your taste buds. Remember this dish needs to be a perfect blend of spice, sour and sweet, without any of these tastes overpowering the other
- Do not go overboard with the use of water in this dish. The gravy needs to be thick.
- The beetroot slice is added to achieve the deep red banquet worthy colour and a earthy sweetness to the dish. You can however skip adding the beetroot.
- Although it is tempting to have it immediately, I’d suggest to leave it overnight and enjoy it the next day as the flavours would have matured by then
- My favourite way to enjoy this dish is along-side my favourite Mangalorean Wedding Banquet indulgence viz, the Sweet Pulao and Plum Chutney. However, you can also enjoy it with Sannas (Mangalorean Idlis) or Paanpoley (Neer dosa)
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Here are some more Pork Recipes for you
I tried this recipe today and it was a superhit with my family. I have tried other Indad recipes earlier but was never happy with the outcome. This recipe is truly truly authentic with a well balance of spices. Best Indad recipe ever!!!
My 5 Yr old had tasted Indad back home and was asking me to cook it for her. I’m happy that I tried this recipe and she totally loved it. Thank you OnePlatePlease for sharing this wonderful recipe. This recipe is a treasure!!!
Thank you Astrid for this lovely review!
Lovely recipe 😋👌😍
What about the famous Coorg or Coorgi Mangalorean pork.. would be so happy to see the recipe pls
Thank you Michelle! Glad you loved the recipe. And about the Coorgi Pork recipe, it is coming soon!
I enjoyed making this recipe. Absolutely delicious.. Loved the addition of beetroot. Thank you for sharing an authentic mangy recipe. Having this reminded me of home.
Hi Linda! Thank you for this lovely review of my Pork Indad recipe. I’m glad you loved it.
Super easy recipe. Explained in the easiest manner and a very catchy recipe to try with basic ingredients. Tasted super yummy 😋😋😋
Thank you Maureen for this lovely review. I’m glad you loved the Pork Indad
I remember eating red version of this dish in a wedding literally 15-20 years ago. I was looking for the recipe everywhere, I finally found it. Thanks for sharing
This is the best Indad recipe! I have tried it twice and both times excellent and spot on taste ❤️ It was the best colour, right on spice and flavour. If followed to the T , you can never go wrong. And this is one dish that can make your guests really sing praises of your cooking. Love your passion and wish you great success! Looking forward to some spectacular recipes.
Thank you Namratha for trying out the recipe. I am glad you loved it. Many thanks for the beautiful review. Makes all the effort worthwhile and keeps me going. Stay tuned for more!
Excellent recipe. Finger licking good. Loved the addition of beetroot. Thanks a lot for sharing the recipe. Definitely a keeper
The indad recipe was explained in detail, it was super easy to follow the instructions. I was tempted seeing the colour of the indad so tried preparing for the first time , it turned out amazingly yummy. Thanks for the excellent recipe.
Thank you Anitha for trying the recipe and for your incredible feedback. Glad you loved it.
I tried this indaad recipe. It has been explained in a detailed yet simple way and it came out super good.
Thank you for trying out the recipe. Glad you loved it
One of my all time fav dish.. everytime I went on vacation, my grandma knew how much I loved Indaad n she would prepare one big jar n would give me at the end of my vacation n back in Dubai I would eat it sparingly like pickle with the fear that it would get over soon.. 🤣
I never tried to prepare this dish till date but today I dared to try it.. I am so so happy coz the taste is amazing n it feels nostalgic n reminds me of my granny’s jar of Indaad..
Thank you One Plate Please for the amazing recipe which brought back some beautiful memories!!