Karnataka-style slow cooker pork curry

This recipe is inspired by this recipe. I wanted a genuine, spicy indian pork curry that I could make in the slow cooker. This recipe worked really well! I've made it twice now, once with picnic bog and once with Karre and the karre worked much better. These are both swedish cuts of pork. If you're in the states, boston butt or any pork shoulder cut with adequate fat that works in the slow cooker should work. My variation uses only one pan for the initial step.

Ingredients:

Spice Blend:

• 3 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 3 teaspoons coriander seeds (or two teaspoons coriander powder)
• 6 cloves
• 2" cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 20 black peppercorns
• 2tsp brown mustard seeds

Curry: 

• 2" peeled and roughly chopped root ginger
• 10 garlic cloves
• 2 tomatoes, quartered
• cooking oil
• 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 4 onions, finely chopped
• 3 green chillies, stalks removed, pierced with a knife
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 dried red chillis
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder, (optional)
• 1-1.5kg pork shoulder, cut into cubes, with some fat
• 0.5 cup vinegar (I've used both apple cider and white, no real preference)
• 1 can coconut milk

Method:

1. Cut the pork into large chunks and salt and pepper the meat.
2. Fry the pork chunks for about 6-7 minutes on each side on medium heat
3. Turn off the heat. In the remaining hot oil, add all the spices under spice blend. After about 5 minutes, scrape the spices into the spice blender and blend. Add vinegar to make the spice blend liquid.
4. Turn the heat back on. Add mustard seeds to the hot oil and when it sputters, add dried red chillis and then the curry leaves. Fry for a few minutes
5. Add the onions and fry until well browned. 
6. Now add in the kashmiri red chilli powder and fry for a minute or two and then add in the spice mix. 
7. In the spice blender throw in the ginger, tomatoes, garlic and red chillis and blend
8. Toss the blended mix into the curry as well
9. Fry this on medium-high heat until the mix begins to thicken and release oil
10. Add this masala and the pork pieces to the slow cooker 
11. Cook on high for 3-4 hours. Test at 2 hours for doneness. 
12. When done, add the can of coconut milk and let the curry cook in the slow cooker without a lid for about 30 minutes.

Ottolenghi's Chicken Pilaf

This is from Ottolengi and Tamimi's book Jerusalem which we bought a few years ago but didn't actually like until we found this recipe recently! For modifications on the recipe I looked at this and other pages but ultimately came up with my own proportions.

The recipe calls for bone-in, skin-on chicken but I've used boneless skinless chicken thighs both times I've made this and its worked very well. I suspect bone-in would work better. I don't like chicken skin. The original recipe calls for about 2 cups of rice and 1.8 times the amount of water cooked for 30 minutes on low, but I've found I've needed to add a little more water and cook for a little longer, averaging 45 minutes both times.

Ingredients

• 75g Cranberries
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 3 onions, finely sliced 
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1.5 kg chicken thighs
• 14 cardamom pods
• 0.5 tsp whole cloves
• 2 long cinnamon sticks, broken in two
• 2.5 cups basmati rice
• 5 cups boiling water
• 5 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 5 tbsp  dill, chopped
• 5 tbsp coriander, chopped
• 100g Greek yoghurt, mixed with 2 tbsp olive oil (optional)
• 1/2 cucumber grated and drained
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Marinate the chicken with the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, a tsp of salt and 1.5tsp of pepper and the olive oil
2. Fry the chicken in a dutch oven or large cooking dish for about 5-7 minutes on each side until you get a nice brown crust and the meat is about half cooked (Medium-high heat 7).
3. Remove the chicken leaving behind the oil and most of the spices.
4. Add the onions to the oil and fry for about 10 minutes, adding the garlic about halfway through (medium heat 5)
5. Now add in the cranberries and rice and fry around for a few minutes. 
6. Now add in the hot water and the chicken and about 2.5 tsp salt.
7. Push the chicken into the rice, cover the pot and lower the heat (3) and leave for ~ 30 minutes
8. Check a few grains of rice and if needed add a few tbsps more of water and cover and cook for another 15 minutes.
9. Once done, quickly place a clean dish cloth over the top of the pot and recover with the lid and leave for 10 minutes
10. Add the dill, parsley and coriander and turn the rice and meat over gently to incorporate evenly
11. Add the cucmber and a dash of olive oil to the yogurt and each on the side