My absolute favourite way to eat pork is this Spicy Sri Lankan Black Pork Curry! Cooked with dark roasted curry powder, tamarind paste, and black pepper, this black pork curry is packed with big, robust flavours!
A good curry recipe is to boiled rice, what a lead guitar is to a rock band. One cannot exist without the other. And without a good curry, boiled rice is just that. Bland and boring.
Which is why a good meat curry is always a good thing to have in your arsenal. I’m not the biggest fan of pork by the way. I generally prefer a good chicken curry or beef curry or lamb curry (mutton curry) or a fish curry. Which is why, I prepare my pork dishes with extra flavour, texture, and spice that truly elevate the dish in every imaginable way.
Like this pork carnitas recipe, which is one of my favourite ways ever to eat pork! Same with this easy pork ramen, slow braised pork roast, habanero and peach BBQ pork ribs!, and devilled pork – a very Sri Lankan dish, the pork version of this spicy devilled beef recipe.
Spicy Sri Lankan Black Pork Curry
The name “black pork” comes from the colour of the final product, as you may have guessed. And that colour comes from the dark roasted curry powder that’s used to prepare this dish which is mixed with tamarind paste and black pepper.
I did add some cayenne pepper purely for Mr K’s benefit, because his threshold for heat is the same as that of a fire breathing dragon. But feel free to leave out the cayenne pepper for less heat.
As for the photos of the black pork in this post, I’m really not sure they do this dish any justice. There are some foods/dishes where photos just don’t convey how incredibly flavourful they are, no matter how much you twist and turn your body to get that perfect shot or perfect angle.
This was one of them. So just take my word for it. If you like a good meat curry, this will be a staple in your house.
Tamarind is a crucial addition to this recipe. I have made a variation of this curry using lemon juice instead, and while it’s still delicious, it’s just not the same thing. You should easily be able to find tamarind paste in your local Asian/Indian grocery store and even on Amazon.
Tamarind and another type of “fruit” called goraka are regularly used in Asian cooking. They both add distinct sour notes to curries and even a hint of sweet/fruity taste too. Tamarind is more popular as it’s used in numerous dishes and there are a few different types of tamarind too.
There’s one type called velvet tamarind, which I particularly like and is delicious. It’s something I used to snack on quite a lot when I was little, and I remember collecting the shell of this fruit because they had a really fun velvety skin (hence the name), and for a time I thought they used those shells to make velvet. True story.
And the best part about this spice mix is that you can use it for any type of meat curry – chicken, beef, lamb, whatever. See a full list of my curry recipes here to see all the meat and vegetarian curries that I’ve made using this incredibly versatile roasted curry powder.
You can get Sri Lankan roasted curry powder from Sri Lankan or Indian Specialty stores, or make it yourself with my easy Sri Lankan roasted curry powder recipe.
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Sri Lankan Black Pork Curry
Ingredients:
- 1.5 lb pork loin chops or shoulder – a pork cut with some fat is preferable for this curry
Marinade
- 4 tsp black pepper whole
- 6 cardamom pods seeds crushed (only the seeds)
- 1 heaped teaspoon of Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder recipe link available above
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper optional
- 3 tsp tamarind paste
Curry
- 2 jalapeno peppers sliced (or 2 serrano peppers if you prefer more heat)
- 1 inch of peeled ginger minced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ½ medium onion chopped finely
- 1 tbsp lemon juice optional
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp sugar
- More salt to taste
Instructions:
- Cut the pork into ½ – 1 inch cubes. If the pork chops have bones you can add those to the curry as well, as they add more flavour.
- Crush the cardamom pod seeds into a powder and mix it with the black pepper, curry powder, salt, cinnamon, cayenne pepper. Next, crush and mix all of this together using a mortar and pestle.
- Add 2 tbsp of this spice mix, the tamarind paste, and 1 tbsp oil to the cut pork and mix to coat. Leave to marinate for a few hours (up to 8 hours/overnight)
- The next day, bring the meat to room temperature before cooking.
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the bay leaves and ginger and onions, and saute till the onions become translucent. Add the garlic and sliced jalapeno peppers and saute for another 30 seconds.
- Add the marinated pork and sugar and stir to mix well. Add about ½ cup of water and bring this to a boil.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for 1 hour. Check on the curry, and add extra water if it dries out.
- Taste and add more salt and some lemon juice – only if needed.
- You can serve this curry immediately, but it tastes better after it has rested for a little while. Even better the next day!
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
The reason why I love this curry so much is the balance of flavours. If you’d like to increase that beautiful peppery heat (and the colour), just add a little more black pepper.
The addition of tamarind paste give this curry a delicious sour note that complements the heat really well. And since it’s a meat curry, you can pair it with a number of side dishes like salads, vegetable curries, lentil curry etc.
Our favourite way to eat this however is with a side of coconut sambol (a traditional Sri Lankan dish) or green pepper coconut sambol (pictured below).
This is a curry we love eating no matter what protein we choose to make it with. Pork seems to work best though, because of the texture and the flavour of the meat. And it’s one of Mr K’s ultimate comfort foods.
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Mark E says
Wow! This knocked my tastebuds for six! So delicious and that was eating immediately, I can’t wait to dig in again tomorrow after the flavours have had longer to mingle!
Keith Thomas says
used pork mince 10%fat ,cooked it in a instapot ,then used a pasta recipe on top wonderlyfully spicy pasta dish
Junita Mushenko says
This was a hit. I’d love to make it for an upcoming dinner party but it needs to be chicken and if possible made in the instant pot. Any suggestions?
Dini says
Hi Junita
I’m so glad that you enjoyed this recipe!
You can easily substitute the pork with chicken. I prefer using bone-in chicken, but you can also use boneless chicken too. Thigh and leg meat (the red meat) is preferred over breast meat (white meat), as breast meat dries out too quickly.
The cook time will be less, but will depend on how large the pieces of chicken are and if it’s boneless or bone in. larger bone-in chicken pieces can cake upto 1 hour, but smaller bone-less pieces can take as little as 20 minutes.
I personally prefer not to make this in an Instant Pot. I find that chicken overcooks too quickly in the IP, that can result in very “soggy” chicken. Also the water content doesn’t evaporate so the resulting “gravy” will be watery in taste. This can be fixed by cooking the curry uncovered until the water evaporates but this can cause the chicken to overcook.
But if you do make it in an Instant Pot, the cook times will differ, depending on the chicken that you use.
I hope that helps
Anne says
At what point do we add the remainder of the spice mix? It says to add 3 tbsp to the meat, but what do we do with the rest? Thanks
Dini says
Hi Anne
You do not need to add the rest. That’s why it’s not mentioned in the post.
You have to make a minimum amount of spice mix, and not all will be used. You can add it to the curry while cooking it if you want to add more curry flavor, but I find 2 tbsp is enough.
I hope that helps
Srilali Grace says
Your black pork curry looks delicious . I can’t wait to try this recipe .
Thank you
Andy says
I have had black pork in a Sri Lankan restaurant and this version is excellent. Thanks for the upload
Himal says
Hi Dini,
Thanks for the recipe. is it a must to marinate for 8 hrs ?
Dini says
Hi Himal
It isn’t necessary but the flavors will be better.
Hope that helps
Dawn Russell says
Do I cover it while cooking it?
Dini says
Hi Dawn
I simmer it without the lid, which is why I recommend adding more water if the curry dries out. Make sure to check on it from time to time and stir the curry as well.
However, you can absolutely simmer this with the lid on as well, but you may end up with more gravy in the curry than you want.
I hope that helps
Keith Bryan says
The recipe is very intriguing. I notice that it includes the seeds from cardamom pods. I am a novice with respect to South Asian cooking. Is the default green or black pods?
Dini says
Hi Keith
I used green cardamom pods here! In Sri Lanka the default is green cardamom 🙂
I hope that helps!
Keith Bryan says
Thank you very much.
Alina Panduru says
Your recipe is just Fabulous, and my dish came out perfect.
Also made my own Roasted Sri Lankan curry powder following your recipe.
Couldn’t be more delicious!
Thank you with Love… ♥️
Tamara says
This recipe is wonderful. This is the only way the family want to eat pork now. For a change now and then I add curry leaves to the recipe when cooking.