Urban India is acquiring a taste for the pig

Pork is not the most popular of meats in India, but it has always had its passionate followers. Think Goa, Coorg and the North-East. Elsewhere too, in urban India, chefs are now seeing pork orders rise and adventurous carnivores are trying their hands at it in their own kitchens, encouraged by reliable suppliers and awareness of safer cooking methods.

Adman Juju Basu is one such pork aficionado. “I love talking about pork,” he exclaims. His Facebook page has an album, titled ‘Pig — The Divine Giver’, featuring pork in its various edible avatars. “In India, the pig has the baggage of being a ‘dirty’ animal. In fact, it’s easier to cook than mutton. It’s a diverse meat, and grills better than any other because of the fat content. You can roast the belly, barbecue the ribs or bake the legs,” he says with relish.

Basu was one of the attendees at a ‘Swine Dining’ event at Saltwater Cafe in Bandra recently, which unabashedly celebrated the many ways of devouring the porker. ‘Swine Nights’, where the menu spans the pig from snout to tail, and dishes include crispy pig ears salad, smoked spareribs, and loin roasted on apples, apart from the usual vindaloos and sorpotels, have become regular affairs in more outlets than one because of their surprising popularity.

“In most places abroad, it is hard to find vegetarian food,” observes Theron Carmine, owner-cum-chef at Cafe Goa. “Here, it’s the opposite. Though initially it didn’t seem to make business sense to serve pork, the large number of expatriates, as well as increasingly adventurous locals, made this a popular initiative.” Cafe Goa will even serve an entire suckling pig on request.

Safe and tasty
When it comes to actually cooking pork at home, however, most people remain hesitant. But if the last livestock census is anything to go by, India’s swine population, while small, has been growing.

Besides, pork production, which for long relied primarily on backyard and informal sector producers, now has a more robust supply chain.  

Delhi foodie Sabira Coelho, 22, who says with some pride that she’s been eating pork for longer than she’s alive, used to buy her pork from the same place her grandmother bought it — the Deluxe Piggery in Bhagat Singh market. But now, Pig Po and Steakhouse are good suppliers too, she says.  

Proper cooking is the other way of ensuring there is no chance of infection from what people dread the most about pork — the trichinella roundworm. “Avoid eating undercooked pork; that is, meat from pigs that has not been cooked to a temperature higher than 140°F (60°C),” says Manek Ahluwalia, a hospitality manager in Bangalore. “Freezing pork will also kill germs, but only if the meat is frozen for a minimum of 24 hours to a temperature lower than -4°F (-20°C).”

As for its flavour, you’re limited only by your imagination, because pork can be adapted to a wide range of tastes, from a spicy sorpotel to a delicate roast. Coelho likes to go easy on the meat. “Pork has a strong taste of its own, so it requires slow cooking. I personally enjoy roasting pork loin in beer sauce, it’s one of my favourites,” she says.

From Coorg to Nagaland
For those who prefer spicier, local fare, there are many Goan and Coorgi curries and sausages to choose from; Basu recommends the Pandhi curry from Coorg, a dish which is slow-cooked for three hours on a wood fire. Kolkata has its own variation of the pork sausage, the most highly recommended being the masala sausages at Chaman’s, which are typically slow-cooked with bay leaves and dried chillies in mustard oil.
India’s pork capital, however, is the North-East, and Nagaland in particular, with iconic dishes like the Awoshi Kitiki Eno Axone, a thick stew of smoked pork in fermented soya bean. The Naga staple is to cook the pork with bamboo shoots, like the Ao tribe’s Pongsen. The Khasis of Meghalaya have a delicious cold pork salad called Dohkklieh.

Best when the portions are hocks and trotters, the pork is boiled then tossed with onions and chillies. Dohneiiong is another Khasi dish, this time served hot in a gravy of black sesame seeds that gives the pork a rich, nutty flavour. The Sikkimese make a pork leg pickle or Khuta Ko Achar. Pigging out never sounded so good.