3 whistles for Pork

Whenever I cook pork, I am reminded of my mom's warning, “cook pork well until the pressure cooker gives you 3 whistles". Well, I didn’t know how to cook back then, but my mom would ask us to switch off the stove after 3 whistles.

Pork is a delicacy back home eaten very rarely during special occasions. It should be cooked thoroughly since its diet is (or was) very unhygienic at least in India. But the taste of pork fry is so yummy; nothing can hold you back from this once you have tasted.

In U.S grocery stores, you get very lean pork and it tastes like paper to me. All the fat is trimmed out. The fat is what makes the pork so delicious. So you would have to search around in Chinese food stores. Ask for pork belly in Chinese stores. This looks and tastes similar to the pork we get back home. My uncle is the one who shared this "pork belly is the real pork" snippet with me.When cut up into square cubes, the pork belly has 3 layers of fat, and one layer of meat. Looks like layered crème cake ;-)(Raw pork)Wash the pork thoroughly and squeeze and strain the water from the meat. For one and half cup of pork, add 3/4 cup of diced onions, 6 crushed garlic, 2 tsp of ginger diced and crushed, 3 sprigs of curry leaves, 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder,1 and half tsp of meat masala powder (I grind my own meat masala, will post that later), 2 tsp of red chili powder, green chilies 4, 1 small tomato diced. Add salt. Mix everything with the cut pork and cook it in a pressure cooker in medium flame for 1 whistle (only in india I think the pork needs 3 whistles).(Pork ready to cook)Cut coconut pieces in to 1cm length.If the cooked pork has water, open the pressure cooker and cook it until the water is completely gone. This is a semi dry dish. Now heat two tsp of oil (instead of adding oil again, you can strain the pork fat from the cooked pork), add curry leaves, add one small shallot, add 1 tsp of meat masala powder, add the coconut pieces and sauté well in low flame. Add the cooked pork to this and sauté well again and make it dry on high flame. Once you taste this dish, there is no looking back.