Kavarma with Pork and Porcini Mushrooms
Ingredients
2 servings
- Pork 400 g
- Porcini mushrooms 4-5
- Onion 2
- Bell pepper 2
- Garlic 1-2 cloves
- Parsley 3-4 sprigs
- Vegetable oil 3 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper a pinch
- Dried savory a pinch
- Sweet red paprika 1/3 tsp
- Dried hot pepper pods or chili optional
- Fresh bread, mildly spicy sauce for serving, optional
Step-by-step recipe
Preparing the ingredients
For tasty meat with mushrooms, use fresh pork and wild mushrooms. Young porcini work best: they stay firm and keep their shape when cooked. In truth, the dish turns out well even with button mushrooms if you have no wild ones. Slippery jacks, bay boletes, honey mushrooms and the like are great too. And don’t skimp on the mushrooms, it is always delicious!
Cut the pork into large pieces; ideally the vegetables and mushrooms are cut to match. Cut the bell pepper into large pieces, peel the onion and cut it into thick strips, finely chop the peeled garlic with a knife, and cut medium-sized porcini into large chunks.
Frying
Fry the ingredients in a well-heated pan over high heat. Don’t cover the pan with a lid, so the food browns instead of steaming.
Fry the meat in vegetable oil until a golden crust begins to form, stirring so it browns evenly. Pork cooks quickly. It is important that the meat juices don’t start to run out, and the crust keeps them in. The meat stays juicy.
Fry the vegetables with the meat. Add the bell pepper and fry it with the meat for 2-3 minutes. Add the onion and keep frying everything together until the onion turns golden. Add the garlic. If you like, add a few dried hot pepper pods or a little finely chopped chili.
Add the mushrooms to the fried meat and onion.
Salt the meat, mushrooms and vegetables to taste, add a pinch of black pepper and dried savory, then a third of a teaspoon of sweet red paprika (2 g). Fry everything over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
Baking
Stir, then transfer the meat with the vegetables and mushrooms to a clay platter or a pot large enough to hold it, and cover with a lid.
Put the dish into an oven preheated to 220°C. The approximate cooking time is 20 minutes from the moment it starts to bake (the juices at the sides of the dish begin to bubble). Since everything has to heat through, the total time in the oven may be 30-40 minutes. And the meat with mushrooms is ready, with no extra liquid, in its own juices.
Note that no liquid is added during cooking. The meat, mushrooms and vegetables release plenty of moisture.
Serving
Serve the dish at the table in the same ceramic dish it was cooked in, or divide it among plates. Before serving, sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve it as a main course, with fresh bread and a mildly spicy sauce if you like.
Calories and macros
775 kcal
Serving ≈ 430 g
- Protein39 g21% of kcal
- Fat58 g70% of kcal
- Carbs17 g9% of kcal
100 g180 kcalProtein 9.1 gFat 13.5 gCarbs 4.1 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.