This sweet, tangy sandwich stuffed with shredded pork has me reaching with sticky fingers for extra napkins. But each bite, dripping with zingy tamarind sauce, is worth the mess.
I first spotted an Indian-spiced pulled pork recipe in Suvir Saran’s charming and eminently cookable Masala Farm. Saran’s recipe intrigues with its exotic spices but offers no sauce. A pulled pork sandwich with no sauce is like a wedding with no bride. It’s the point of the occasion.
In the world of barbecue, the sauce that crowns pulled pork can turn roadside establishments into landmarks. Indoor cooks face the challenge of getting the pork shoulder tender enough, and creating a sauce with just the right tangy flavor. Saran’s concept inspired me to delve into Indian flavors and create this recipe, which employs a pressure cooker to ensure fall-apart tender pork, and then smothers the shredded pork with classic Indian sour-sweet tamarind chutney.
Anyone who’s ordered samosas at an Indian restaurant will recognize the sauce. Tamarind chutney has been called the “ketchup” or “BBQ” sauce of the East. Made from the tamarind tree's sour, pod-like fruit (prominent in Asian, African, and Latin American cuisines and featured in Worcestershire sauce), the silky, sweet sauce pairs beautifully with slow-cooked pork.
Recipes for tamarind chutney vary widely in their ratio of sugar to water. Some are sickly sweet, asking for as much as two and a half cups of sugar to two cups of water. Mine dials it down to a happy medium of a half cup of sugar, blending date sugar with brown sugar to emphasize the earthy tang while offering just enough sweet to balance the fatty pork.
Served with serrano lime slaw, this dish was so addictive and delicious that when Paul finished his last bite, he turned to me and patted my arm. “Thanks for the slider, honey. Can I have another?”
Indian-Spiced Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Tamarind "BBQ" Sauce
Pulled Pork
4 pounds pork shoulder
Hamburger buns
Braising liquid
1-1/2 cups pineapple juice (not from concentrate, with no sugar added, such as Lakewood)
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup diced canned tomatoes in their juices
1-1/2 TB Asian garlic chili sauce
2 TB soy sauce
1 TB apple cider vinegar
Dry rub
2 tsp garam masala
1 TB onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
3 tsp brown sugar
The night before you want to serve, coat the pork with the dry rub and refrigerate overnight. The next day, when you're ready to cook, combine the braising liquid in a pressure cooker. Lower the pork into the pot (shaking off any excess rub), lock the lid, and bring up to high pressure. Once the pressure is reached, cook on "high" for 55 minutes. While cooking, make the tamarind sauce, below.
When the pork is finished, let the pressure release naturally for at least five minutes before releasing the rest of the pressure manually.
Shred the pork with two forks or your hands. Top each bun with pork and drizzle with tamarind sauce. Serve the serrano lime slaw on top or on the side.
Tamarind “BBQ” sauce
3 TB tamarind paste concentrate
1/2 tsp garam masala
1-1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 TB canola oil
1/4 cup date sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups water
Heat the oil in a sauce pan. Add the spices, stir to combine with the oil, and let simmer for two minutes. Add the tamarind, water, and sugar. Stir until sugar lumps disolve. Simmer on medium-low for 30 minutes until reduced by one-fourth. The sauce should be just thick enough to coat a spoon.
