Colombo is Martinique's flagship spice powder. It is a mixture of turmeric, coriander, fenugreek, cloves, cumin, pepper, mustard seeds and garlic. If it is very close to curry, it remains less spicy.
Colombo owes its name to its land of origin, a region of present-day Sri Lanka which had been named Colombo in homage to Christopher Columbus. It was after Indian immigration that the colombo would have arrived in Martinique and that it would have been fully integrated into the local cuisine. Today, pork colombo is one of the essential dishes of Martinique, the other islands of the French Antilles and Reunion Island.
Ingredients
For 6 servings:
- 2 kg of pork
- 2 eggplants
- 2 zucchini
- 3 onions
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 West Indian chili pepper
- 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
- Lime (juice)
- 4 teaspoons of colombo spices
- 1 bouquet garni
- 4 tablespoons of oil
Preparation
- Cut the pork into cubes approximately 3 cm in size.
- Peel the vegetables and drain them.
- Peel and slice the onions.
- Cut the eggplant and zucchini into slices.
- Peel the garlic cloves.
- In a pressure cooker, brown the meat with oil or butter.
- Add the onions and garlic then stir everything.
- Add the eggplant slices, zucchini and bouquet garni.
- Cover everything with boiling water.
- Add colombo powder then stir everything.
- Leave to cook for at least an hour on low heat.
- Halfway through cooking, add the whole pepper and remove it at the end of the season.
- Before serving, sprinkle with the lime juice and stir well.
- Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.