Pork bafath/bafad (Ground masala method)

Pork bafath is a classic and popular Mangalorean dish, served on all special occassions including birthdays, weddings, christenings, Christmas, Easter etc. I think all Mangaloreans, Goans and East Indians  have a special appreciation for pork preparations and we love our pork bafath, sorpotel, vindaloo, roast, choris (sausage) etc. I will be sharing all these recipes of course, but I'd like to start the Easter mood with my family favorite - Pork Bafath.

Every Mangalorean family has their own recipe for this preparation. Having said that, what I have observed is that, the ingredients for the recipe remain the same, the quantities of those ingredients change. For example: my sister's recipe calls for more onions, garlic and red chilly. Sometimes people prefer for the onion and garlic to be completely cooked and dissolved in the gravy, whilst some prefer to add the onions mid way during the cooking process, so that the onions are not completely dissolved. You can adapt the recipe to your tastes as long as you stick to the ingredients.

There are two variants to the recipe - the first one is where you grind all the ingredients and prepare the bafath masala (ground paste) from scratch, and the second variant is where the ready made bafath powder is used in which case you don't need to grind the masala. Bafath powder is easily available in Mangalorean stores and can also be used as a substitute for garam masala. You can try making it at home too if you are the adventurous sort. For today's post I am going to share with you the recipe where the masala is ground and made from scratch.

The recipe I share with you today is a recipe that was shared in our parish bulletin many moons ago. I am forever grateful to the dear old lady who shared this. Unfortunately I did not capture her name or any other details.

Ingredients:

1. Pork - 1 kg
2. Onions - 3 nos medium (Cubed)
3. Ginger - 1 inch (chopped finely)
4. Garlic - 1 pod (chopped finely)
5. Green chillies - 3 nos (slit)
6. Cloves - 6 nos
7. Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
8. Bay leaves - 2 -3 nos
9. Vinegar - to taste
10. Salt - to taste

The below ingredients to be ground with water:

1. Kashmiri chillies - 15 nos (Use your discretion while using chillies)
2. Peppercorns - 10 nos
3. Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp.
4. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
5. Tamarind - 1/2 a lemon sized ball (soaked in warm water)

Method:

1. Cut the pork into 1 inch cubes. Wash well and drain excess water.
2. In a pan large enough to hold all ingredients, put the pork, add the ground masala and all ingredients. Mix well and switch on the gas.
3. Use water to clean the mixie jar and add it into the pan. Do not use any more water than that for the preparation.
4. Bring the meat to a boil, lower the flame and let it cook for 25 -30 minutes.
5. Continue cooking till dissolved fat appears on top or until the meat is tender. This could take anywhere between 45 mins to an hour.
6. Check for spice and salt.
7. In case, you'd like for the onions and or garlic to be less cooked, add them fifteen minutes after the cooking process has started. In this case, the onions will have a bite and will not have completely mushed into the gravy.

Notes:

• This is a fiery hot dish, in case your spice tolerance is low, use fewer red chillies, green chillies, garlic and ginger. Go a bit easy on spices like peppercorn, cloves and cinnamon.
• Pork tastes best after it has been cooked and allowed to rest for at least a day. The day it is prepared the gravy will be quite hot and spicy and not as much the next day.
• Pork bafath tastes best with sannas or pau.