Sarapatel

The meat is parboiled before it is diced, and offal is half of it.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

• 600 g pork belly, in one piece
• 300 g pork liver, in one piece
• 200 g pork heart, in one piece
• 150 ml palm vinegar, or cider vinegar
• 12 dried red chillies
• 15 cloves garlic
• a 5 cm piece of ginger
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 8 cloves
• a 5 cm stick of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 3 onions, finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 teaspoons salt

Method

1. THE MEAT IS PARBOILED BEFORE IT IS DICED, AND OFFAL IS HALF OF IT. Its article gives the order in one clause -- THE MEAT IS FIRST PARBOILED, THEN DICED AND SAUTEED before being cooked in a spicy and vinegary sauce -- and lists what the meat is: PORK MEAT AND OFFAL, which includes HEART, LIVER, TONGUE, and even pork blood sometimes. Parboiling first is what lets you dice liver and heart small and even; raw liver tears and raw heart is too firm to cut neatly. The name says the same thing from the other end: its article notes sarapatel LITERALLY MEANS "CONFUSION", for the mish-mash of ingredients.
2. THE PARBOILING WATER IS KEPT. It is the only stock the dish gets.
3. THE PIECES ARE SMALL AND EVEN, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SAYS VARIES. It notes THE SIZE OF THE PIECES ALSO VARIES. Half a centimetre is the fine version and it is the better one, because every spoonful should have some of each meat.
4. THE LIVER GOES IN LAST AND COOKS LEAST. Parboiled five minutes against twenty for the belly. Overcooked liver turns grainy and dominates.
5. BLOOD IS RARELY USED NOW AND ITS ARTICLE SAYS WHY. Since PURE BLOOD IS DIFFICULT TO ACQUIRE. Left out here; it would thicken and darken the sauce.
6. THE SPICE PASTE IS GROUND IN VINEGAR. As with the vindaloo on these pages -- the two dishes share that habit and most of their pantry.
7. ITS ARTICLE ALLOWS TWO ORDERS AND BOTH WORK. Some SAUTE THE MEAT PRIOR to cooking it in the sauce, others ADD THE DICED PARBOILED MEAT DIRECTLY TO THE SAUCE. Sauteing first gives more colour and a firmer bite.
8. IT IS MADE DAYS AHEAD BY PREFERENCE. Vinegar and offal both improve, and the dish reheats better than it cooks.
9. ITS ARTICLE NAMES WHAT GOES WITH IT. Sanna, as on its own page -- which it describes as a spongy, white and slightly sweet steamed rice and coconut bread -- or pao, or rice, or in a bun.

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