India’s pork lovers rejoice at news of US imports as taboos over once-maligned meat start to shift

Pork is not a common ingredient in most Indian cuisine, but long-held taboos about its consumption are starting to change in the country of 1.4 billion

This week trade officials announced India would allow pork imports from the United States for the first time ever – setting Indian pork lovers’ tongues wagging

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A pork vindaloo is seen at a Goan restaurant in Panjim, Goa. Photo: Hospedaria Venite

Published: 7:29pm, 13 Jan 2022Updated: 8:50pm, 13 Jan 2022

India’s decision earlier this week to allow imports of US pork and associated products, in return for sending shipments of mangoes in the other direction, has been cheered by a growing group of fans of the meat.

Pork is not a common ingredient in most Indian cuisine, but it is widely consumed in the states of Goa, Kerala and Karnataka – as well as in Northeast India, bordering China and Myanmar.

In Coorg, a hilly region of Karnataka state that is home to the Kodava people, a pork dish called pandi curry – which contains bird’s eye chilli, green masala paste, ground spices, and a dark, viscous vinegar made from the garcinia gummi-gutta fruit – is prized for its “piquant taste and the trademark dark colour”, said travel writer and food show host Priya Ganapathy, who described pork as not just a food but an “emotion”.

Indian travel writers and food show hosts Anurag Mallick and Priya Ganapathy love their pork. Photo: Anurag Mallick / Handout

Evidence of Indians eating pork can be found in various ancient texts, as the late food historian K.T. Achaya pointed out in his Indian Food: A Historical Companion. In Manasollasa, a 12th century text, there are instructions on how to prepare pig carcasses and make them into sunthakas (roasted pork steaks).

But a general taboo associated with eating the meat started to pervade Indian society from the 16th century onwards, after the country was conquered by the Muslim Mughal Empire, according to food anthropologist Kurush Dalal.

Hindus, who make up about 80 per cent of India’s 1.4 billion people, are not prohibited from eating pork, but many consider the meat impure and this has made restaurants wary about putting it on their menus. Muslims, who account for about 14.6 per cent of the population, are forbidden from eating pork by their religion.