Goan Sausage Pulao

This is a Goan style pulao - a flavourful dish made out of rice that is first browned in oil and then cooked with spices, vegetables and hot Goan sausage. This particular pulao is very popular in Goa and is traditionally made using spicy Goan sausage that adds lovely smokey aroma. But if Goan sausage is not available where you are, it can be replaced with, for example, Spanish Chorizo or any other kind of sausage and made as spicy or as mild as you like it. This pulao is quite similar to the one you get at O'Coqueiro and Britto's in Goa! Ooooh it's such great comfort food... :o)

You will need: 1.5 cup of Basmati rice, soaked in water 1 medium red onion, finely chopped 2 medium tomatoes, cut into small cubes 1 tsp of garlic paste 1 tsp of ginger paste ~10 cm piece of Goan sausage/Chorizo (or per your taste), sliced 8 cloves 4 cardamon pods 10 black peppercorns 2.5 cm cinnamon stick 1/2 tsp turmeric powder salt to taste oil for frying 3 cups of hot water 1. Heat the oil in the pot and fry cloves, cardamon, peppercorns and cinnamon just until they release their aroma. 2. Add the onion and fry them till they become soft and translucent, don't let them burn. 3. Add the garlic and ginger paste and fry it for just another moment. Add the turmeric powder and mix it well. 4. Add the tomatoes and chorizo pieces keep frying till the tomatoes become soft. Increase the flame if needed. 5. Strain the water from the rice and add them to the pot. Fry the rice stirring occasionally till it starts browning lightly (5-6 minutes). 6. Add 3 cups of water and salt to taste, stir it, wait till it starts boiling cover the pot, reduce the flame and let it cook for 10 minutes without opening the pot even once. After 10 minutes, remove the pot from the flame and let it sit still covered for another couple of minutes. Now it is ready!

Enjoy!

Pork Chop - Eggplant Stir-Fry with Ginger Fried Rice

My hubby made a delicious stir-fry for dinner as I was craving for a little bit of TLC last night. He used pork chops, but you can make it with any kind of cut of pork. And if you don't get Japanese eggplant, you can use some other kind of small eggplant. The sauce was quite sweet with a fresh touch of star anise and green shallots. We had it over simple ginger fried rice that is so easy to make yet adds so much flavour. It reminded me a lot of Korean bbq, which we used to go for on Friday nights while living in Minneapolis. Good old days... =)

For Pork Chop Stir-Fry you will need: 4 pork chops marinated in: a handful of chopped green shallots/spring onions 2 tbsp of soy sauce 2 tsp of fish sauce (can be replaced with salt) 1 star anise, broken into big pieces black pepper powder 4-5 Japanese eggplants, cut in half and then lengthwise 3 small red onions, quartered 3 shallots (white part), halved 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced ~3 cm piece of ginger, thinly sliced ~2 tbsp of Hoisin sauce some chopped spring onions for garnishing oil for frying 1. Marinate the pork chops in soy sauce, chopped spring onions, star anise, pepper powder and fish sauce for about 30 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the ingredients. 3. In a wok, heat some oil and stir fry the eggplants until slightly brown. Add garlic, onion, shallots, ginger and fry some more until onion is slightly browned. Onion should still be crisp. Keep aside. 4. Heat some oil, place the pork chops into a wok and fry till outside is seared. Then pour in the marinade and fry until the meat is cooked. 5. Add back the stir fried vegetables, hoisin sauce and fish sauce to taste. Mix it well. 5. Garnish with fresh spring onion.

For Ginger Fried Rice you will need: 2 cups of cooked rice ~3 cm of ginger, finely chopped 2 tsp of soy sauce fish sauce or salt to taste a handful or green shallots/spring onions, chopped oil of frying In a wok or pan, heat some oil and fry ginger for a minute. Then add the cooked rice and stir it well and fry it for a couple of minutes. Stir in soy sauce and fish sauce to taste. Finally, add fresh spring onions. Stir it well and fry till the rice is nicely browned. Enjoy!

Pork Chops in Red Wine Sauce

We opened a bottle of red wine recently that was not too bad or spoiled, but we would not have enjoyed drinking it. So off it went to the fridge as a cooking wine. It's been on my mind since that evening and then I remembered about pork chops that have been waiting for their destiny in the freezer. Perfect! I arranged an union here and I don't know if they fell in love with each other afterwards... ;o) But we sure fell in love with this dish - what a great combination! Caramelized onions gave sweetness to this dish, dry red wine added some tartness and richness and the pork chops were so soft after simmering in the sauce for a long time. You can skip chili flakes, but I like to add a little kick to my dishes and yet not make it too spicy.

10 pork chops (~1 kg) washed and dried 2 medium size onions finely chopped ~2 tbsp of English mustard ~2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce lots of pepper powder ~1 tsp chili flakes (or to taste) salt to taste 1 cube of stock melted in one cup of hot water 1+ mug of red wine 2 tbsp of oil for cooking ~2 tsp of corn flour 1. Heat oil in a big pan (I used a big wok) and first brown the pork chops well on both sides. 2. In a bowl, mix stock, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and wine. 2. Add the onions to the pork chops and pour the liquid over it, finally, add pepper powder and chili flakes. Be careful with the salt as the stock you are using might be salty already. Mix it all, bring to a boil, reduce the flame, cover the pan and let it simmer for at least one hour. Check once in a while if there is enough liquid and taste for salt/pepper/chili flakes. 3. Once the pork chops are soft, take them out of the pan, increase the flame, add about 2 tsp of corn flour and mix it well till the sauce thickens. 4. Pour the sauce over the pork chops. It's done!

Bon appétit!