Meat mains
Malaysian pork & cauliflower curry with sticky rice
This Malaysian style curry has just that; cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and coriander, with a sweet and sour note from the tamarind and citrus. Add tamarind with a little caution as the sweet-sour flavour is quite intense. Use ⅓ to start, taste and add more to your liking towards the end.
Ingredients
- 1 large garlic clove
- 25g ginger
- 1 fresh chilli
- 1 cauliflower - use ½ if large, a little more if small
- 150g green beans
- 200ml coconut milk
- 150g jasmine rice
- oil for frying e.g. sunflower or coconut
- 2 tbsp red Thai curry paste
- 2 tbsp tamarind paste – add to taste
- 1 tsp light brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cardamom pods
- 1 stick lemongrass
- 300g pork stir-fry strips
- 30g fresh coriander
- 15g fresh mint
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Peel and finely chop or crush 1 large garlic clove. Peel and finely grate the ginger. Deseed and finely chop the chilli. Using half the cauliflower if large, or a little more if small, chop the curd into bite-sized florets, not too large, split any bigger florets.
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Step 2
Wash, trim and finely slice the green beans at an angle, about 1-2cm. Carefully stir the tin of coconut milk to mix the solid and liquid parts. Rinse the rice in a sieve. Transfer to a saucepan, one with a lid. Add 500ml water and a good pinch of salt.
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Step 3
Bring the pan up to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Then remove from the heat, keep the pan covered and leave the rice to stand for the time it takes to finish the curry. Meanwhile, as soon as the rice starts to come to the boil, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a good sized pan.
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Step 4
Add the garlic, ginger, chilli, Thai red curry spice sachet and stir for 2 minutes. Add the tin of coconut milk, one third of the sachet of tamarind, the sugar and Malaysian spice pot. Give the cardamom pods a light bash to just split them, add these too.
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Step 5
Stir the ingredients together. Lightly bash the lemongrass so it splits at the base slightly. Stand it in the pan. Bring the pan up to a low simmering boil and cook for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, wash and roughly chop the coriander and shred about 4 large or 6 smaller mint leaves.
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Step 6
After 5 minutes of the coconut sauce simmering, add the cauliflower. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add the green beans. Simmer for a further 5 minutes. As soon as the beans go in, season the pork with a little salt and pepper. Heat a frying pan with a little oil.
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Step 7
When hot, add the pork and stir-fry for a couple of minutes, until it's got a good golden brown colour to it. Transfer the pork to the veg pan, with any juices from the frying pan. Cook for a further couple of minutes if needed, until the cauli and beans are tender, and the pork cooked through.
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Step 8
Check the curry seasoning, remove the lemongrass. Stir in the fresh coriander and mint, saving a little to garnish. Serve with the sticky rice.