I fist ate the is five ingredient dish when Belmira, a parishioner of mine, here at St Stephen’s  made this for a small intimate gathering for the parish fathers. I could not wrap my head around the flavours. She made it again at the cooking contest that was held at parish and which was judged by the head of department, Don Bosco’s Culinary School, Annabelle Rodrigues who also happened to be my professor at culinary school.

Do not be fooled by the simplicity of ingredients because this dish packs a complexity of flavours. Indian food tends to be over spiced and the subtle flavours of the main ingredient itself is often lost. However, the combination of the chillies is crucial. The motuo or Aldona chillies have a thick skin and and short and deep reddish black. The Bedgi bring in the heat and the Kashmiri adds a bit of colour and spice. You can buy the Aldona chillies from Mapusa market in Goa, they sell them by the piece ( in hundreds) and not by the kilo.

This dish combines a lovely pungent, sour and salty flavour while retaining the flavour of the meat it self. For best results, always use fresh meat rather than meat that has been frozen.  Other recipes add ginger and garlic along with turmeric, cumin and coriander seeds. I liked this dish the way it was made.Pork Solantulem is also called Pork Amsol or Pork Binda Sol

INGREDIENTS

1 kg – lean pork – 3 tablespoons rock salt – 3 large onions – 5 kashmiri chillies – 5 Mapusa or Aldona or Motuo chillies ( different names for the same type of chilli) and 7-10 Bedgi chillies – A handful of Kokum  or ten halves

METHOD

Take 1 kg of pork with little fat, cube it (make big cubes), wash well, drain all the water out, you may also use kitchen towels to drain the excess water.  Add 3 teaspoons of rock salt & apply to the meat using your hands till the salt has been incorporated into the meat thoroughly, At this stage you could use a tablespoon of ginger garlic paste if you so desire but this recipe did not have it. Set aside. Take 3 large onions, cut horizontally.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a vessel. Add the onions and sauté till transparent. Add the chillies after breaking them into half. You could also leave them whole but take off the stem. Add the  Kokum and Sauté for a 1 minute. Add the Meat and Sauté for 2 minutes.Add one cup of water and bring to boil, then simmer till the meat is tender.  Serve Hot and enjoy over a shot of Feni with friends.