Sweet and Spicy Indian Pork Chops!
This pork chop curry is sweet, tangy and a little spicy. It’s so full of flavor! It truly is a unique way to enjoy pork chops.
If you like pork chops and Indian cuisine, you will love this recipe – it really is crazy delicious.
TWO SECRET INGREDIENTS!
There are two “secret ingredients” to making these pork chops fabulous. The first is my homemade meat masala, which is made with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds, and black peppercorn. This is a handy masala to keep around – use it when you want to spruce up a meat dish.
The second secret ingredient is honey. Honey adds a touch of sweetness to this tangy and spicy curry and it also helps to cancel out some of the tartness that comes from the canned tomato sauce. I’m sure maple syrup would work too but I prefer the floral sweetness that honey adds to this dish. It’s funny to say I prefer honey. I actually couldn’t stand honey for years. When I was a kid, my mom would crush medicine and mix it with honey before giving it to me. It ruined honey for me for at least a decade, until one day, at a farmer’s market, a vendor insisted his bees made the best honey. I had to try, and after that, I let honey back into my life.
BONE-IN OR BONELESS?
You can use bone-in or boneless chops for this recipe. I know most people say bone-in chops are juicier and well, maybe they are. I sort of prefer boneless, simply because I don’t have to cut around the bone, which means I can eat this like, 5 seconds faster, lol. Either kind is just fine.
Depending on the size of your chops, you may need to adjust the cook time. As long as a thermometer reads at least 145° F, you’ll be fine.
So let me tell you how easy these chops are to make… you pan fry them and pop them in the oven. Before you put them in the oven though, you have to make a nice and thick tomato-y gravy to put on top.
When you’re making this gravy – the key is to get the onions realllly nice and brown. This will take a little while, so be patient. Once that happens, you can add garlic, ginger, and spices. Then the organic tomato sauce.
Easy, right? Right. The hardest thing about this recipe is waiting for the chops to be done.
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 2 cups chopped red onions
- 1 ½ inch ginger minced
- 6-7 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons coriander powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder or paprika
- ½ teaspoon homemade meat masala
- 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1-2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- Season pork chops with a pinch of salt, pepper and turmeric.
- Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a pan, and shallow fry the chops, browning the pork chops on both sides. Place the chops in a greased baking pan.
- In a skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of ghee and add the red onions. Cook until the onions turn brown (realllly brown), then add ginger, garlic, coriander powder, cayenne, and the homemade meat masala. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes.
- Add can of tomato sauce. Stir for about 5 minutes, then mix in the honey and dump the gravy on top of the pan with the pork chops (you can taste the sauce before adding it to the pork chops and adjust the honey or salt if needed).
- Cover the pan with foil and bake at 375 for 45 minutes to an hour - turning the chops over halfway.
Suzette Talbot says
This is amazing , I make it all the time , my family all love it . Thank you !
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Suzette, I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how much you like this 🙂
Patrícia o’Connor says
.Greetings. I wonder if I can make this in a pressure cooker, and if so, how long should I cook it for. I am trying to reduce the use of energy. Thanks
TERRY says
I am making this now please respond soon. I am wondering how much turmeric to sprinkle on the chops? I have 9 pork chops so I am doubling the recipe.
Thanks
Kristi says
Delicious! I made 6 pork chops and doubled the curry. I did the last step in a slow cooker on high an hour or so. I think this may work in a slow cooker on low for a few hours. My family of five loved it. We had left over curry and were spooning it over our poatatoes and peas and sopping it up with naan. Thank you!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Kristi, that’s so great to hear! Thank you for letting me know how much you and your family liked this 🙂
Dawn Nielsen says
Making this tonight what would you serve with it as a side?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Dawn, you can serve any veggie dish as a side. Since it’s zucchini season, I’ll go ahead and suggest my zucchini thoran – let me know if you give it a try 🙂
Jennifer L. says
This made my tastebuds do a happy dance. I paired this with homemade naan and my boyfriend who had never had Indian food loved it. This sauce is the boss!
My Heart Beets says
Jennifer, that’s so great to hear! I’m so glad you guys loved it 🙂
Deanna says
Hi,
How much turmeric?
My Heart Beets says
Just a pinch!
Ken says
Looks great! Wondering if anyone has tried putting the browned meat and sauce in a slow cooker instead of the oven…?
LK says
Cooked this today. Loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
My Heart Beets says
So glad you liked it!
Kim says
Oh man way too spicy for me!! I should’ve clued in as I put in so much cayenne pepper :S lol live and learn. I love the premise so I will scale it down next time.
But I love the meat masala! Thank you!
My Heart Beets says
Kim, maybe try using the Kashmiri powder next time too – it’s not quite as hot as cayenne. Let me know how it turns out for ya next time! Glad you love the meat masala 🙂
Medson says
so nice, good and teste
RT says
Superb recipe!
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, RT!
Nadine says
This is awesome. I’ll definitely try this!
My Heart Beets says
Nadine, let me know how you like it! 🙂