This is one of my favourite dishes. Whenever I get smoked pork from Sikkim or Darjeeling, I make this meal for myself. Simplicity is key here, with fresh greens perfectly balancing the smokiness of the meat.

  • Serves

    2

  • Cook Time

    40m

Ingredients

  • 400 gm Kolmi Shaak (morning glory leaves and stems)
  • 150 gm smoked pork
  • 30 gm garlic
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 whole dry red chilli
  • Salt to taste

Preparation

  1. Put water to boil in a steamer.
  2. Cut the smoked pork into thin slices.
  3. Mince the garlic.
  4. Separate the morning glory leaves and stems. Wash them independently. Cut the stems into 1.5-inch-long pieces. Keep the leaves whole.
  5. Grease a wok or pan with vegetable oil. Heat it and pour out all the oil.
  6. Immediately add 20 gm garlic. Cook on high heat for 1 minute and add the smoked pork.
  7. Cook on high heat for 2 minutes. Transfer it into a heatproof bowl.
  8. Put the bowl in the steamer for 15 or 20 minutes (or as long as it takes for the pork to be cooked).
  9. Meanwhile, pour a tablespoon of oil into the wok. Add the whole dry red chilli and the remaining garlic.
  10. Toss in the morning glory leaves. Cook for a few minutes on medium heat. Season with fish sauce. Set aside.
  11. In a separate hot wok, place the cooked smoked pork with whatever juice has gathered in the bowl.
  12. Put in the morning glory stems and cook for a few minutes. Add chilli flakes and salt (if needed). The texture of the meat should be soft and the stems crunchy.
  13. In a bowl of hot rice, first add the morning glory leaves, and then the meat and crunchy stems.
Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar

Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar

Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar is a professional chef, researcher and co-founder of the Edible Archives. She worked for four years with the Diva group of fine dining restaurants in New Delhi; was the owner and chef of Big Bongg Theory, a modern Bengali restaurant; and ran Bento Bong, an annual Bengali food stall in CR Park, for three consecutive years. She presented the opening dinner for the India International Centre’s annual Arts Festival in 2017, and the opening lunch for Market Place 2018 near Kolkata, an event for organic farmers, chefs and restaurateurs from all over the world to exchange ideas on how to bring indigenous ingredients to the marketplace. In early 2018, she curated ‘Smoked, Steamed and Tempered’, an event showcasing the ingredients and cooking techniques of Northeast India for the University of Chicago’s Alumni Centre in New Delhi. She holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Delhi. Anumitra recently set up the new Edible Archives restaurant in Anjuna, Goa.

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