Curry

No long introduction - it's cold as tits in Korea, and all I want to do is sit on my ondol in a pile of blankets warming my insides.

It'smotherfuckingcurryseason.

Curry is great because lazy people like me can throw ridiculous quantities of delicious things into a large pot and have meals for a solid week, thus reducing the number of times one must leave their bed to succumb to the tedium of ...uh...not being in bed. Please enjoy my climatic coping strategy:

Pork and Cardamom Curry

-4 cups diced kabocha squash
(butternut or acorn varieties would be ok)

-1 heaped tbsp garam masala

-1.5 tbsp cardamom pods, whole

-1 tbsp black pepper

-2 tbsp chili flakes
(or to taste)

-4 inches ginger root, peeled and minced

-2.5 kg pork shoulder, cut into strips

-15 cloves of garlic, smashed

-5 medium onions, sliced thinly

-2 tbsp oil/fat/whatevs.

-1 can coconut milk

-1 tbsp salt, or to taste

I'm not gonna lie...this recipe involves some pretty annoying (but worthwhile) prep work. The first step is extracting the cardamom from their shells. I've found it best to squish them with the side of a knife, and then rub the pods between your fingers to ease the little rat-poop-esque grains out. I've tried to get around this by using ground cardamom as well as steeping the cardamom pods without husking them - both to less satisfactory results. Having the whole seeds in there really gives your maw strong pops of cardamom gusto. This is particularly great because they will sharply punctuate the other strong flavors in this recipe instead of just blending in with them. Skip this important (albeit crappy) step and you'll be making a very different curry.

10 agonizing minutes later you'll have your little pile of fragrant turds. Now you dump them, the chili, pepper, and masala in a large pot over medium heat with the fat of your choice to toast up a bit. After a minute it should be really fragrant, at which time you can add in your onion, garlic, and ginger. Mix it up well and sweat the whole lot for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Now add in your pork, mix well, cover the pot and continue to cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

At this point you'll notice that the ingredients have released a lot of water - that's good. If they haven't, cover it up again and leave it for another 5 minutes. Add your squash and coconut milk into the bubbling mess and cook it for another 45 minutes over medium-low heat (keep it at a low simmer). Be sure to give it a stir every 15 minutes or so to make sure that nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Uncover the pot, add in the salt, and reduce the lot for another hour (or until desired consistency is reached) over medium-low heat. I like this curry nice and thick, so I tend to boil most of the liquid out. Taste the batch, and only add more salt (if needed) AFTER you have reduced it to your liking.

By this point most of the squash, onions, and garlic will melt together with the coconut milk into a thick delicious sauce, both pungent and sweet. Prepare your mouth for tender, flavorful pork and the worst goddamn breath you've ever had in your life.