I love Thai flavor profiles, and while this is not exactly traditional, it does the trick. If you’re not a coconut milk fan, you can substitute half of the milk with a chicken or vegetable stock.
Time to grab a blanket, start a nice warm fire (first of the season?) and sit down to a bowl of this. Make it as hot or not as you like. I like it pretty spicy and tend to add more Thai peppers, an abundance of which are in my garden, thankfully.
INGREDIENTS
1 boneless pork shoulder roast, about 2 lbs , cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons your curry powder of choice. I used Vadouvan
2-3 sliced hot peppers, like Thai or serrano
2 cans 14 oz coconut milk
1 thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large head kale, de-ribbed and chopped fairly small
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
2-3 stalks Lemongrass*
Salt and pepper
METHOD
Season the meat with salt and pepper.
In a Dutch oven, brown the meat in the oil.
In the same pan, soften the onion and garlic with the curry powder and peppers. Add oil if needed.
Add the coconut milk, peppers, ginger and lemongrass and bring to a boil. *If you don’t have lemongrass, cut a lemon in half and grill it pretty hard, cut side down and throw in the pot.
If the meat is not covered completely, add some vegetable or chicken stock. Cover and bake, for about 2 hours or until the meat is fork tender.
Add the cilantro, cauliflower and kale and continue cooking, covered, for about 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.
Remove the lemongrass/lemon halves. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with some sliced peppers before serving if you like it a little spicy. This is great as is, but serving over some Jasmine rice would be wonderful.