Pork Colombo with tomatoes and eggplant

Serves : 4 people

Preparation : 30 minutes

Cooking : 45 minutes

Wait : 2 hours

Ingredients

For the marinade
1 onion
2 garlic
6 chives
1 colombo powder If you're using a jarred mixture, divide it in half—use one half for the marinade and the other half for the sauce
1 lemon for the juice
1/2 allspice
1.7 fl oz of water
2 olive oil
salt, pepper

For the sauce
4 seeds for roasting or, if you don't have those, 2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp fenugreek seeds, and 1 tsp cumin seeds. You can also substitute some of these with pink peppercorns or other whole spices, depending on what you have in your spice drawer. Be careful not to use too much cumin!
1 eggplant
1 tomato
3.5 oz of chopped tomatoes canned
1 colombo powder or jarred colombo sauce
8 parsley
4 olive oil
6.8 fl oz of water
salt, pepper

Instructions

Preparing the marinated meat

Cut the meat into pieces about 2 cm in size. Place them in a container that can be sealed.
Peel and finely chop the onion, then add it to the mixing bowl.
Peel and crush the garlic cloves using a garlic press or in a mortar. Add them to the mixing bowl.
Rinse and finely chop the chives, then add them to the mixing bowl.
Add the lemon juice, colombo (either the powder or half the jar of sauce), four-spice mix, oil, and water. Season with salt and pepper.
Mix everything well, cover, and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least two hours, or even overnight.

Cooking the colombo

Take the marinated meat out of the fridge so it can come to room temperature.
Crush the seeds in a mortar.
Heat the oil in a skillet or Dutch oven, and sauté the crushed seeds for two minutes.
Remove the onion from around the pieces of meat. Set the meat aside, and return the onion to the marinade.
Place the pork pieces in the skillet and sear over high heat for 10 minutes, until they are nicely browned on all sides.
Meanwhile, wash and cut the eggplants into pieces.
Once the pork is cooked, add the marinade (including the onions) and cook for one minute, stirring occasionally.
Add the eggplant, fresh tomato, crushed tomatoes, and colombo (either the powder or the second half of the jar), and give it a stir.
Add the water and simmer for 30 minutes, covered, over low heat.
Once it's done cooking, let it rest for a few minutes before serving, and add a little boiling water if there isn't enough sauce.

Notes

You can serve this pork colombo with steamed potatoes or rice.