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Pork meat in sour sauce

Sorpotel or Sarapatel is a dish that is mainly cooked in the Konkan, a coastal strip in western India that extends from the southernmost provinces of the state of Maharastra through Goa to the northern areas of the state of Karnataka. The word Sorpotel is said to be derived from the Konkani word Soro, which means «alcohol» (something that teaches us that in the olden days, wine had more to do with vinegar than it does today). The dish consists of a large part of offal - usually pork (less frequently lamb or beef). As with all traditional recipes, there are several variants, though most of the cooking methods are quite similar. Usually the pieces of meat are cooked as a whole, first in water, then cut into smaller pieces and braised (directly or sometimes after being sautéed) in a sauce that contains various spices along with a lot of vinegar. The cooking method suggests that Sorpotel was probably originally made immediately after the animal was slaughtered - just like blood and liver sausages were in the western world - with vinegar being used to make the easily perishable offal more durable.

The use of pig meat and vinegar (or wine respectively) suggests that this dish as Swar Mas ka Vindalu is rooted in the cuisine of the Portuguese colonialists. It seems that in the North East of Brazil a very similar dish is popular. 

Odette's Sorpotel also corresponds to the usual recipes for this dish - the only unusual thing is the use of a kaki as a sweetener.

1. Wash all the meat (shoulder, liver, hearts, kidneys, tongues) and put into 2.5 liters of cold water. Add turmeric and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and let it simmer for 1 hour.
2. Heat a steel pan and fry separately the following spices until they emit their odour and make a crackling sound: coriander seeds, cumin, cinnamon, chilies, cloves, and pepper.
3. Remove the seeds from 6 cardamom pods and add to the toasted spices. Process the spices in a coffee mill to a fine powder (gives about 70 to 80 g of powder).
4. In a blender puree the spice powder together with the fresh chilies, ginger and vinegar. Squeeze the garlic into it.
5. (After one hour) remove all the meat from the broth. Keep broth. pull skin out from the tongue pieces. Cut all the meat into small pieces and set aside.
6. Wash and dry the pot.
7. Heat the oil in the pot and sauté the onions for about 3 until they are translucent.
8. Pour in the pureed spices and fry for about 5 to 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid has well reduced.
9. Stir in the meat together with the persimmon pieces and pour in the cooking liquid from the meat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a minimum. Put a lid halfway on and simmer for 1 hour.
10. Again stir in 1.5 dl of vinegar and allow to cool to room temperature. While cooling, taste the dish and add some salt if necessary. Put into the refrigerator and, if possible, allow to marinate for at least 24 hours.
11. Before serving, warm up the dish over medium heat, stirring constantly.

The longer the Sorpotel marinates, the better its flavour. In some recipes it is said that the preparation can be stored in the refrigerator for 5-6 weeks without being spoilt.

More about the travel adventure of Secret Agent Hektor Maille:

• Episode 20: Somewhere else
• Startpage of «Mission Kaki» (with overview map)
• More Recipes of the Secret Agent

We waited a long time- and in vain - for the first edition of the «Studio Hektor Maille» . We had planned to illustrate the last episode of «Mission Kaki» with a recipe from this television show. However, when we finally asked Anath, the state television company in Santa Lemusa, for news about the scheduled cooking show of our agent, we simply got this recipe, instead of an answer. We are reproducing it here for the sake of completeness:

• Odette's Sorpotel

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