Tender boiled pork finished with a freshly pounded chilli-garlic paste — the definitive celebration meat dish of the Tripuri people, served at Garia Puja and weddings.
Ingredients
600g pork belly or shoulder — cubed 3 cm
1.5 cups water
1/2 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
For the mosdeng chilli paste:
6 to 8 fresh green or red chillies
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp ginger — grated
1 tbsp mustard oil
2 tbsp fresh coriander
1/4 tsp salt
Method
Simmer pork pieces with 1.5 cups water, turmeric and salt in a covered pot on medium heat for 30 to 35 minutes until completely tender and most of the water has evaporated.
In the final minutes the pork cooks in its own rendered fat, searing slightly.
While pork cooks, make the mosdeng paste: roast the fresh chillies in a dry pan or directly over a gas flame until slightly charred and blistered.
Pound together with garlic and grated ginger in a mortar and pestle to a coarse paste — keep it chunky, not smooth. Add mustard oil, fresh coriander and salt. Mix.
Once the pork is cooked and tender, increase heat to medium-high for 3 to 4 minutes until the pork pieces are lightly seared in their own fat and have golden edges.
Remove from heat. Cool slightly for 2 minutes.
Add the freshly pounded mosdeng chilli paste to the cooked pork.
Toss together well. The heat of the pork gently warms the fresh chilli paste without cooking it completely, preserving its vibrant character.
Taste and adjust salt. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
This dish does not keep — the fresh chilli paste is best eaten the same day it is made.