Galho

A rice and pork porridge carried by Chinese knotweed.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

300 g short-grain rice
600 g pork belly, in 3 cm pieces
2 litres water
a large handful of Chinese knotweed leaves
200 g mustard greens, chopped
150 g green beans
2 onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
a 4 cm piece of ginger, grated
4 dried red chillies
2 teaspoons salt

Method

A RICE AND PORK PORRIDGE CARRIED BY CHINESE KNOTWEED. Its article is 477 characters and names the components without proportions or a method: galho is MADE FROM A MIXTURE OF RICE, VEGETABLES AND VARIOUS MEATS, and it USES DIFFERENT KINDS OF INGREDIENTS SUCH AS RICE, CHINESE KNOTWEED, PORK OR BEEF, VARIOUS VEGETABLES AND SO ON. The knotweed is the one specific in the whole entry and it is what makes the dish taste of Nagaland rather than of anywhere else.
SO EVERY QUANTITY AND EVERY TIMING BELOW IS A CHOICE. The article fixes the rice, the knotweed and the meat, and says IT IS TYPICALLY SERVED IN A SIMPLE FORM WITH ITS CORE INGREDIENTS THOUGH VARIOUS ADDITIONS CAN BE MADE AS PER PREFERENCE. That is a licence to add and no instruction at all.
CHINESE KNOTWEED IS NOT CORIANDER AND THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR IT. Persicaria odorata, sold as Vietnamese coriander or rau ram. It is peppery and soapy and slightly bitter. Coriander leaf is the nearest thing available, and the dish is different without it.
START THE PORK IN WATER WITH THE AROMATICS AND NO FAT. Belly, onion, garlic, ginger and the dried chillies in two litres, brought to a simmer. Pork belly renders its own fat and that fat is the richness of the dish.
AN HOUR BEFORE THE RICE GOES ANYWHERE NEAR IT. The meat should be soft enough to pull apart. Skim once.
THEN THE RICE, AND IT COOKS TO A PORRIDGE RATHER THAN TO GRAINS. Short grain, straight into the pot, thirty minutes, stirred now and then. It should be loose enough to eat with a spoon.
THE GREENS AND BEANS GO IN FOR THE LAST TEN MINUTES. Mustard greens hold up; anything softer collapses into the rice and is lost.
THE KNOTWEED IS TORN IN OFF THE HEAT. Its flavour is volatile and five minutes of boiling takes most of it. A large handful, torn rather than chopped, stirred through at the very end.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes