Dohneiiong Pork

 When I was young, my appa did his Masters in Earthquake Engineering. He went all the way to a place called Shillong in the East of India - about 3500 kms to complete his studies. I do not know much about how long he was there for - all I remember is him bringing back some artefacts and an Assam sari for amma.  Shillong is the earthquake capital of India - and they have a dedicated school that studies the way the tribals build their houses in Shillong. Appa did his research in this school - and used to tell us stories of the tribal people who lived in these amazing houses that withstood the earthquakes. 

Being a foodie, I read a lot of recipe books and experiment with various concoctions in my kitchen. This is over and above all the different sorts of food I eat or sample whenever possible.  This recipe caught my eye as it had sesame seeds as one of the main ingredients and I wanted to try it out to see how it married with the pork.  I was not disappointed!

This recipe was introduced to me by a fellow foodie, Cecy Kuruvilla who provided me with the recipe. I must warn you that this recipe is quite spicy. The people of North East India certainly love their chillies! A bit of trivia for you - the Bhut Jalokia chilli which is the world's hottest chilli pepper and is 170 times hotter than Tabasco sauce, is grown in this region.

Ingredients:

300 grams pork (I used belly pork, with the fat)

12 dry red chillies (I used 6 kashmiri chillies that have very little heat and 6 normal chillies that are hot)

2 green chillies slit (again, you can leave them whole if you like)

4 tablespoons black sesame seeds

1 large red onion, chopped

1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

salt to taste

water as required

coriander leaves and lime / lemon slices for garnish

Method: 

In a cast iron pot, add pork, some salt and 2 cups of water and let it cook till the meat becomes tender.

Meanwhile, soak the chillies in hot water and set aside. In a non stick saucepan, toast the sesame seeds till it releases a nice flavour and the seeds start to crackle. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Once cool, grind the sesame seeds to a coarse powder.

Drain the softened red chillies and grind them to a paste as well.

Heat oil in a saucepan and add the chopped onions, green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Once the onions are browned, add the cooked pork with any liquid in the pot.

Sauté well and ensure the pork pieces are coated in the onions / ginger garlic paste. Next add the turmeric powder and the chilli paste and cook for a further 10 minutes or so.

Lastly, add the ground sesame seeds and coat the pork pieces with it.

Serve hot with rice or chappaties.