The captain's pork and apricot kebabs
Pork & gammon
The captain's pork and apricot kebabs
A fragrant, punchy dish, excellent served with rice. It takes a little prep and marinading time, so maybe better for a relaxed weekend meal.
Ingredients
main
- 120g dried apricots
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp captain's curry masala paste (see below)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp soft light brown sugar
- 150ml vegetable stock
- 400g diced pork
for the captain's curry masala paste
- 75g cashew nuts
- 75g golden sultanas
- 2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 20g ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 200g tinned tomatoes
Method
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Step 1
First make the paste. Boil the nuts for 5 minutes in a little water, then drain. Place in a blender with the other paste ingredients and whizz to a fine paste. Take out 2 generous tablespoons and freeze the rest for kedgeree, curries etc.
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Step 2
Bring the half the apricots to a simmer in barely enough water to cover them, remove from the heat and leave for 15 minutes. Drain and blitz with a little of the cooking liquor, until smooth.
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Step 3
Next, heat the oil in a pan, soften the onion, add the curry paste, followed by the puréed apricots, lemon juice, bay leaf and sugar. Pour in the stock and stir. Season, then leave to cool.
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Step 4
When cold, add the pork, stir, then cover and leave to marinate in a cool place for 3-4 hours.
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Step 5
Soak 8 small beech kebab sticks in water. Slice the remaining apricots into thirds and make the kebabs: pork, apricot, pork etc. Don't crowd them on the sticks.
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Step 6
Grill (not too near the heat) for 10 minutes per side until cooked and golden brown. Meanwhile, reheat the leftover apricot marinade in a pan, simmer gently for a couple of minutes. Serve with Basmati rice and the marinade.
