Meghalaya Smoke-cured Pork Salad with Honey Whiskey Cider Vinegar Dressing

Mary returned from Shillong after an extended 'sojourn' and back brought goodies... Whee!
One of the things that got me all excited was the smoked pork and beef that she got back from home. Resisting the temptation to gobble up the entire (and meagre) stock of the exquisite meat was (and is) difficult. 

A growling stomach reminded me to keep is simple and quick while I tried to decide what to make myself from brunch so I pulled out the first good looking bell pepper from the fridge and tossed, washed and the cleaned the cherry tomatoes that I got from Dadar.

The yellow bell pepper adds a little Warhol to the mix...

A fistful of cherry tomatoes..

 The broccoli beckoned from the crisper and was quickly distributed into crisp little morsels that would do well to contrast both the colour and the texture. Pottery class has resulted in a surfeit of bowls and one of them was quickly pressed into service to do a quick 2 minute nuke of the broccoli florets while I got the other things in place...

Broccoli Florets

 The smoke pork wafted out from the freezer and filled the kitchen with a heavenly aroma as I broke off a bit and chopped them into small morsels...

Smoked pork from Meghalaya...

I wanted a dressing that would be balanced with a little warmth so I pulled out a little whiskey and got the apple cider vinegar (from Himachal) and some glorious honey from the Pune apiculture institute... A teaspoon of each went into a shot glass and whisked with a dash of olive was all ready to make my Sunday happy :) 

Honey, Whiskey and a little Cider Vinegar for the dressing

All ready to pour some goodness...

 The pepper quickly got chopped into little pieces and tossed into my salad vessel...

Yellow bell pepper pieces

Next, in went a fistful of cherry tomatoes to add some sunshine and burst into happiness when I bit into the brunch...

Cherry tomatoes to the mix...

The steaming warm and yet still crunchy enough broccoli came out from the microwave and quickly joined the mix

Microwave quick steamed broccoli 

A warm layer of broccoli...

The pieces of meat went in after this...

Add the smoked pork shreds...

... a sprinkle of salt, a splash of the dressing and brunch was ready...

Chappati Rolls 01 - Egg and Honey Mustard

Subarna wanted something that is quick to make and reasonably tasty for her to cook for herself and her kiddo. I often make Chappati Rolls in the morning since they are some of the quickest things to make when you are rushing out on your way to work.

I'd boiled the eggs the night before but did not shell them and keep since they'd become quite rubbery in the fridge by morning.

Piping hot chappatis are available at a restaurant that is minutes from my place from 5AM to 1AM. At Rs 3 a pop it is a HUGE persuasion for me NOT to make them :).

I put it two teaspoons of mustard powder into my espresso cup along with a pinch of powdered ajwain (to make for an interesting twist :) ) and them dribbled in a little honey along with a few drops of nice olive oil. It is very easy to make the mix too sweet so it is always better to add the honey in a dribble at a time. This way I can adjust the 'hit' from the mustard along with the cloying sweetness of the honey.

Next I quickly sliced the cucumber (to get some crunch) and some tomatoes to get some squishy tang and layered them on the chappati.

I did not add salt and seasoning now since the cucumber and the tomato slices would immediately release some of the moisture and make the entire thing soggy.

Next I sliced the egg and layered that as well. If I layer the lot I get distinct swathes of taste and texture compared to the situation where I just mix them all up...

The honey mustard seasoning went on top of all this...

As an afterthought I chopped and added a sprig of coriander leaves to add to the interesting mix of flavours.

And... this is straight after I chomped a bite of my brunch :)