Colombo de porc is the pork version of the French-Antillean curry brought by Tamil indentured laborers; a Sunday and festive staple of Guadeloupe.
Spoon up colombo de porc and the pork is tender in a thick, golden, fragrant curry. Bite: the pork is rich and savory, the colombo spice earthy and warm with a sour lime lift, the potato and chayote soaking up the sauce, a gentle scotch-bonnet heat. The Sunday curry of Guadeloupe, a Tamil-Creole inheritance over rice and beans.
Frying the colombo powder in oil blooms the Tamil spice blend; long braising tenderizes the pork and melds the curry while the potato and chayote absorb it. Lime added at the end cuts the richness — the same colombo technique as the goat version, with pork.
Variations
With chicken or lamb. With green papaya. Spicier. With mango. Drier. With a tamarind sour note.
On the Palate
Where Colombo de Porc sits in the Guadeloupean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 5
How it's made
8 steps · 35 min active + 1 hour 15 min waiting
- 132 min
Cut 1 kg pork shoulder into chunks; marinate in lime, garlic, and thyme 30 min.
- 28 min
Brown the pork in oil in a heavy pot.
Watch outGet real color on the pork before anything else goes in — a proper brown crust is where the curry's depth starts.
- 35 min
Add 1 chopped onion, garlic, and spring onion; soften.
- 42 min
Stir in 3 tbsp colombo powder and cook 1 min to bloom.
Watch outFry the colombo powder just till it smells warm and nutty, about a minute — push it past that and the spice turns bitter.
- 53 min
Add water to half-cover, thyme, and a whole scotch bonnet.
- 661 min
Cover and braise 60 min until the pork is tender.
- 725 min
Add 2 cubed potatoes and 1 chayote in the last 25 min.
- 83 min
Finish with lime juice and serve with rice and red beans.
Watch outSqueeze the lime in off the heat, right at the end — its job is to cut the richness, and heat kills that fresh edge.
