Pañcavarṇī Five-Colored Offal Stew
अन्त्राणि खण्डशः कृत्वा कालखण्डं तथा कृतम् । वारिप्रक्षालितं कृत्वा खण्डितान् समरूपतः ॥ ८८ ॥ मेदसः शकलास्तद्वन्मांसखण्डांस्तथैव च । राजिकाकल्कदिग्धांस्तांस्तोयमिश्रान्विपाचयेत् ॥ ८९ ॥ आर्द्रकस्य रसं स्तोकं अम्लमल्पं विमिश्रयेत् । प्रमाणाल्लवणं क्षिप्त्वा हिङ्गुतोयं च मेलयेत् ॥ १४९० ॥ किंचिच्छेषं द्रवं तत्तु समुत्तार्य विधूपयेत् । पञ्चवर्णीति विख्याता नानारूपरसावहा ॥ ९१ ॥
Having cut the intestines into pieces, and the liver cut in the same way, and having washed them with water, all of them cut to a uniform shape; and slices of fat likewise, and pieces of meat in the same way — those, smeared with a paste of mustard and mixed with water, he should cook. He should mix in a little juice of fresh ginger and a little sour liquid; having put in salt in due measure, he should also stir in asafoetida water. When only a little of that liquid is left, he should take it off the fire and perfume it. It is renowned as pañcavarṇī, the five-coloured one, and it brings manifold forms and tastes.
This dish is called a pancavani or five-coloured, although I’m not sure why, given there are awful meats in it. When I cooked it, it came out to be not particularly colourful. I used pork because finding pork liver and bong are much easier where I live than finding sheep liver and sheep intestine. A mumbled shoulder cut or pork belly can give you both the fat and the meat in a single purchase if you can’t easily find fat back.
Ingredients
- 600 g pork bung, cleaned and cut into 2 cm pieces
- 1 kg fatty pork shoulder, cut in 2 cm pieces so that some pieces are mostly fat and some mostly lean
- 600 g pork liver
- 45 g brown mustard seeds
- 45 ml ginger juice
- 45 g tamarind concentrate, diluted in 300 ml water
- 1 tsp asafoetida
- 30 g salt
Method
- Dry-toast the mustard seeds in a pan over low heat for a minute or two, just until fragrant and starting to pop, then tip out and let cool completely. Cover with cool water and soak 15–30 minutes, then drain and discard that water. Grind the drained seeds with fresh cold water and a pinch of salt, using a mortar and pestle or short pulses in a food processor rather than continuous grinding, which builds up heat. Let the paste rest, uncovered, for 10–15 minutes.
- Put the bung and shoulder pieces into a wide saucepan along with enough water to cover, then add the mustard paste, asafoetida, and salt. Cover and hold it at a bare simmer for about 3 hrs, or until the bung is tender. Top up the water as needed.
- Once tender, stir in the ginger juice and the tamarind water. Uncover and reduce over higher heat until only a little thick sauce is left.
- Cut the liver into matching pieces, add it, and cook for 5—10 minutes, until it is just firm and no longer pink at the centre.