Rai Saag

            MATTER OF FAT? OR MAY BE

JUST PIG HEADED! 

  

If it is Shillong then how can pork be far behind!  My fondness – oh what the hell, its gluttony and gluttony it is- for the fat laden meat is old history by now. In fact, it is the only meat I really love; otherwise I am a total seafood person right down to octopus and have even tried sea horse.  

Instead of meat, I think I should be saying pork fat! Whenever I buy pork, I buy two kinds – with skin and without skin, the first kind for me and the other for rest of the family. How can you eat pure fat? Yep, heard that many times in varying modes - with derision, shock, disgust, oh-my-god-she-is-going-to-have-a-heart-attack and more! It’s all water off a duck’s, nah off a fat pig’s back. Yes, yes I have seen Babe and cried, yes I have been given many reasons not to indulge in pork eat, yes and more yes and once again, wall water off ………………

Fat is white, so white meat is good right :)

What I love best about it is that one doesn’t have to go all fancy with pork. Whatever way and however you cook it, it is always finger-licking tasty.  The only kind of pork I am not too inclined to is the smoked ones. In fact, once at The Fort Resort in Nagarkot, Nepal, the chef specially prepared a pork dish for us, except that the pork turned out to be the smoked variety.  After the efforts he took, I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I love succulent, fresh pork and when it comes to the smoked variety, well I sort of turn the other way.  For the few minutes that the chef hovered around, I plastered a faked smile and ooh-ed and aah-ed over the dish. I am also not too gung-ho over the preserved varieties- the bacons, salamis and sausages. The bacon bits I put into my pasta sauce, fried rice and even omelets and if I am travelling and it’s on the breakfast menu at best I eat one. The sausage stuffing I prefer to use as a cooking ingredient and the salamis I usually pass them by.  Give me trotters any day and above all, give me Doh Khleh . Doh is meat in Khasi and Khleh is head, yes, don't gag please, we are talking pig head.  It's simply small pieces of  boiled fat meat from the pig head, sliced onions, minced ginger, diced green chili, salt to taste all mixed together. Try it before passing any comment- that's an order!

In the North East of India, pork is a much cherished delicacy.  The way it is cooked there is simple, the trick is to accentuate and highlight its innate yum factor. No spices, apart from fresh herb are used. My all time favourite is pork with rai saag.  Rai saag or lai saag as it is also known is, I think a different variety of mustard leaves. But unlike the mustard leaves, the pungency is much less, in fact there’s just a hint of it.  I don’t know if rai saag is available all across the country, it’s basically a hill region vegetable; I know it’s there in plentiful in the North East, Darjeeling and Sikkim and the hills in Uttarakhand and in Nepal.  In Delhi, you can get it at the INA Market, at a price that would send the rai saag growers in the hills into a hissy fit! The dish is simple; all it needs is loads of patience! This is how I make it.

Ingredients:

Pork meat (with skin and fact) – 1kg, cut into smallish size

Cooking oil, 2 tbsp

Onion, 2 large ones, thinly sliced

Ginger-garlic paste, 2 tbsp

Green chilies, to taste (the more, the better), diced

Tomatoes, 250 g, diced

Salt, to taste

Turmeric, 2 tsps

Big red peppers, 2 or 3,   with small incision on the side (optional)

Rai saag, 500g

Method:  Wash the pork thoroughly and keep aside. Soak the rai saag in water for some time and then wash thoroughly under running water. It is best to take each leaf and wash it properly; then leave to drain .

Heat a thick bottomed wok/ casserole. The wok or casserole should have a cover.

Put in the oil. While the oil heats, mince some pork fat (2tbsp) and add to the hot oil. Step back as you do so, it splatters. Once the mince bit browns, add the onions and fry for about 3-4 minutes it is wilted and not burnt. Add the ginger-garlic paste and stir thoroughly. Throw in the green chilies and the diced tomatoes. Add salt to taste and the turmeric powder.  Keep stirring till the tomatoes are cooked. Then add the pork meat and keep stirring. Throw in the red peppers (optional) This is where the fun begins, because this dish is about slow cooking. Also the flame should be about medium, not too high and definitely not too low. Keep stirring the meat every five minutes or so. And when you are not stirring, keep the lid tightly on. After 30-40 minutes the meat should be cooked. 

 

No Air Brushing - just fat laden pork and the simple masala!

 

Take the rai saag and roughly break them.  Add to the wok/casserole and mix thoroughly. Once again follow the routine of stirring for 2/3 minutes, lid back, stirring…… The rai saag will let out some water. If you want a bit of gravy don’t dry up all the water, otherwise, keep stirring until the saag wilts completely.The whole process, after adding the saag, should take another 15 minutes or so.

 

Don't go by the looks- the proof is in the eating!

 Best eaten with steamed rice