Sorpotel – a dish influenced by the Portuguese, is the celebration of Goan cuisine. This dish is cherished in almost all Goan Christian celebrations. Each household has its own recipe and style of cooking this delicacy. Traditionally, it is prepared using pork belly with pork organs (heart, liver, ears etc..) and pork blood but my family and I use pork belly with only the pork liver. The recipe is pretty easy, but preparing it ahead of time is advisable, as Sorpotel tastes always better after 2-3 days at least.

My recipe is a love recipe from my parents. Whenever there is a celebration in my family, sorpotel is a must in my home. From childhood, I would watch my parents loving prepare this dish, but they would do their own distinct task of preparation for this delicacy, it always resulted in a dish which I absolutely adore. Whenever I visit my parents, it’s a celebration of family union and there is always a pot of sorpotel ready for us to enjoy.

Traditionally, the sorpotel masala is ground in vinegar, since I could not get my hands on Goan vinegar, I substituted with apple cider vinegar but nothing like the good Goan vinegar. I’m not so fond of too much vinegar in my food so I grind the masala with water and apple cider vinegar so the masala is not to vinegary. If you prefer the traditional way then grind the masala in vinegar.

Try to get some Feni for the authentic goan taste. If you don’t get feni, you could substitute it with “Wincarnis” (Tonic) wine.

When my parents gave me this recipe they told me to always remember to fry the onion till golden brown and fry masala for a long time till the oil separates. Whenever my husband and I prepare sorpotel I always reminisce my childhood memories of my parents loving cooking this dish together in the kitchen. Prepare this dish with your family and create memories of your own!

Ingredients:

500 gm pork belly

150 gm pork liver

8-10 onions finely chopped

3-4 tbsp of oil

Chicken stock or 2 chicken stock cubes (optional)

Salt to taste

1 tsp sugar

5ml of Cashew or Coconut Feni (Goan Liquor)

Masala paste

20 Kashmiri chillies (5 chillies seeds remove)

3-4 garlic cloves

1 inch ginger

2 tsp. cumin seeds (Jeera)

8-10 pepper corns

5 cloves

4-5 cinnamon small stick

1 small ball tamarind

1 tsp turmeric

Apple cider vinegar and water

Method:

Put the meat in a deep pan with enough water to fully submerge the meat, parboil the pork meat and pork liver (approx. 10-15 min) and add salt as per taste.

Tip: For extra flavor use chicken stock cubes.

Once the meat is parboiled, remove the meat and let it cool. Strain the stock and set it aside.

Cut the cooked pork belly and liver into small cubes separately.

Heat 3-4 tbsp. of oil in a pan and fry the pork meat in a single layer, or else the meat wont brown and render the extra goodness of the pork fat. Fry till golden brown

Now continue to fry the remaining pork meat in batches until done.

Finally fry the cubed pork liver for about two to three minutes in the pork fat.

Once all the meat is fried, transfer the pork fat into the pot that you will be cooking your sorpotel in.

Grind the masala ingredients with apple cider vinegar and water or according to your preference to form a fine paste.

Tip: You can grind and store the masala paste in the fridge upto a month.

Heat the pork fat and fry the finely chopped onions till golden brown, add a tsp of salt and sugar while frying the onions.

Once the onions are fried then add the masala and cook it till the oil separates.

(This step is the most crucial as you need to stir the masala continuously for about 15-20 min so the oil separates and it turns reddish brown)

Add the fried meat to the masala and stir gently to coat the meat. Once meat is coated in the masala then add the pork stock that you reserved.

Bring the sorpotel to a boil, then turn the gas to slow, add the feni and simmer it for about 30 minutes. Remember to stir occasionally. Add a Tbsp of vinegar to the Sorpotel and shut the flame off.

Your sorpotel is ready, let it cool. Its always taste better after 2 days of preparation, after it has been warmed up once a day till the day it is served.

Whenever you are ready heat it through on slow flame and enjoy with steamed sannas.