On Sundays we tend to have our ‘main’ meal now in the early evening, where we can all sit down and break bread together. We eat very little meat in the week these days, but on Sunday we like to indulge and have a roast or perhaps a curry. This evening we will be having a Goan pork curry, which is deliciously spiced – not chilli hot as my youngest daughter is 9 years old. It’s a great one you can make advance, either the day before or in the morning of the day you are making it.

I’ll be accompanying it with some plain basmati rice and my beetroot curry.

Do you have a main family meal on Sundays? Do you go for the traditional English roast or something more exotic?

Let me know in the comments below.

Goan Pork Curry

Serves 4

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp peppercorns

1 tsp cardamom seeds, remove seeds from the pod

4cm stick of cinnamon bark

2 tsp black mustard seeds

2 dried red chillies (4 if you want more chilli heat)

1tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp cardamom seeds, remove seeds from the pod

2 inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

1 whole head of garlic, all cloves peeled

2 white onions, peeled and chopped

1 tsp salt

4 tbsp white wine vinegar

4 tbsp of vegetable oil

750g of boneless pork, cut into bite sized cubes

1 tsp light brown sugar

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp of turmeric

250ml water

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1.  Dice the pork into bite sized mouthfuls and set aside in a bowl.

2. Heat a frying pan and add the cumin seeds, red chillies, peppercorns, cinnamon bark, black mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Move around the pan so that the aromas are released but they do not burn. This will take under 1 minute. Place them into a small bowl to cool. Add the cardamom seeds to the bowl.

3. After a few minutes, place them into a spice grinder to create a masala. Return the powdered masala into the small bowl.

4. In the same frying pan, fry the onions until they begin to bronze. This will take around 10 minutes.

5. Whilst the onions are bronzing, peel the garlic and the fresh ginger (use the back of a teaspoon to do this – it is really easy this way), and grate the fresh ginger. Place in a hand blender, add a splash of water and blend to form a smooth paste. Place in a small bowl and place to one side.

6. Once the onions have bronzed transfer them to the same hand blender and blend until smooth. Add the vinegar to make the consistency smooth. The reason for putting vinegar in this recipe is to help soften the pork when cooking.

7. In the same frying pan, heat half the oil and gently fry the pork cubes so that they too begin to bronze. Remove with a slotted spoon.

8. In a new deeper pan, add  the remaining oil and add the ginger-garlic paste you have created. Add the turmeric and coriander powder and then return the pork to the pan along with the onion puree and masala blend. Fold all the spices into the pork. Add the water and cook on a low heat for 45-55 mins, stirring intermittently.

I like to serve this with a simple plain basmati rice and a vegetable curry as a side dish.