Curried Pork Chops

Thanksgiving full table, Will in high chair, Elise makes her she-crab soup close to perfect, blessing names everyone including Will. The week was the life. The life was the cooking. The cooking was the love. And the love was the week, and the week was one of the weeks that stack together to become the years, and the years become the life, and the life is the woman at the stove who cooks and writes and loves and does not stop.

I made she-crab soup on Sunday — the anchor, the constant, the practice. The soup was perfect. The perfection was the practice. And the practice continues, one Sunday at a time, one bowl at a time, one life at a time, the woman stirring, the roux thickening, the kitchen warm, the family fed, the love alive.

The soup anchors Sunday, but the week still has to be fed — and for us, these curried pork chops have become the meal that does it. There is something about the warmth of the curry against a cold evening, the way the smell fills the kitchen the same way it did the week Will sat in his high chair and Elise stirred and we named everyone at the table. I come back to this recipe the way I come back to the stove: not because it’s extraordinary, but because it is constant, and constancy is its own kind of love.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 bone-in pork chops (about 3/4 inch thick)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped (for garnish)

Instructions

Season the chops. Pat pork chops dry with paper towels. Season both sides generously with salt, black pepper, and half the curry powder.
Sear. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops and sear 3–4 minutes per side until golden brown. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Build the base. Reduce heat to medium. Add sliced onion to the same skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Bloom the spices. Stir in remaining curry powder, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne. Cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until fragrant.
Deglaze and simmer. Pour in chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Return pork chops to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 12–15 minutes until pork is cooked through (internal temperature 145°F).
Finish the sauce. Remove from heat. Stir Greek yogurt into the pan sauce until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Serve. Plate the chops over rice or with crusty bread. Spoon sauce generously over the top and finish with fresh parsley or cilantro.

Nutrition (per serving)

Curried Pork Chops — The Meal That Holds the Week Together