Is it "Indian?" Curried pork tenderloin

There's a bit of a dichotomy up there. I mean, let's face it. When you think "Indian" food, your immediate reaction, I bet is "wait. PORK? Indians don't eat pork."

Well, let's not generalize here, that completely. Some do, some don't. It's like anything else. Got to be careful when you're thinking about things like this. Generalizations don't fly very well, in cooking.

In fairness, when I read this recipe, it never called it an "Indian" recipe, but there's a connection that is made - and Annalena made it - because there is curry in it. We associate curry with Indian cooking don't we? Well, we should, but "curry" in some form or another (and don't get me started on what is and is not "curry") has made it all over the world. Indeed, you can find it in some Sicilian dishes - always with couscous (or, as it is called in Sicilian dialect cussucussu), and nearly always with fish. Then we get to Caribbean cuisine, where the link is more understandable. But the rant of the day is, don't generalize.



I like pork.





Have you all had your fun yet? Good, now let's move on. I happen to like tenderloins, even though many chefs and cooks scoff at it, because it's not the tastiest cut. Indeed, two nights ago on Top Chef, we saw a cook go down for a pork tenderloin dish that wasn't up to snuff. Oh well.



I saw this recipe in a magazine, and of course, I had to modify it. This is the second dish that my friend Ken didn't get because he went on a date instead. So Guy and I ate it. And it's good. And it takes advantage of a difficult ingredient to use: late season peaches.



It's mid October, and you can still get stone fruit. Honestly, a lot of it just isn't very good right now. The peaches and nectarines are mealy, and best used for cooking instead of out of hand eating. So here's a way to use that peach sitting on the counter. Try this. It's fast and it's good.



Like some men.



Ok, you need a one pound piece of pork tenderloin. Pat it dry, or leave it in the fridge like I've taught you to do with meat in general. Combine four peeledcloves of garlic, a teaspoon of ginger, and a teaspoon of curry.



AH. Here's the rub. You've got curry in your house, don't you? GOod. Now smell it. Does it smell like anything? Probably not. It's probably old and lost its flavor. Get some new stuff.



Back from the store, add the curry to the ginger and garlic. I use an old coffee grinder to grind this stuff together, but you could use a small food processor or whatever you have, or you could do it the old fashioned way, and do it by hand. IF you happen to have fresh ginger around (I didn't), use a few slices of that instead. Finally, add some salt to this. You'll get this nice wet paste that will stick to the tenderloin real easily. Spread it all over the meat.



Get an oven safe pan and put two tablespoons of vegetable oil in it, and get it REALLY hot. How hot? You'll see little ripples on the oil when it's hot enough. Put the tenderloin into the oil, and let it sear. DONT MOVE IT. You want a nice dark color. Leave it alone for five minutes, then turn it over and let the other side brown.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425. Put the whole pan into the oven (guess I should have told you the pan should be oven proof. OOPS). And let this cook for about ten minutes, twelve if you prefer your meat cooked more. While it's cooking, chop up one medium sized onion, a nice big tomato, seeds and skin and all, and a peach.

After ten minutes, protect your hands and take out the pork. Move the meat to a plate to let it rest. Over a medium flame, add the onion, and cook for about five minutes. Then add the tomato and peach and cook for another five. Keep your hand protected, and stir the mix from time to time. Taste it and see if you would like to add more s easonings to it. It's your dish, and you probably will (I wish I had done so with mine). After ten minutes, your sauce is done. Turn off the heat, and slice the pork into nice sized slices. Spoon some of the sauce over it, and put the rest on the side for people to take as they like.

This was the main dish, next to the potatoes I wrote about yesterday. It was good. It's a start on my way to learning something new. Is it "Indian?" I doubt it. Is it tasty? Sure is. Will I make it again, absolutely.