A dish that is the pride and joy of home cooks and caterers alike, the stuffed piglings come out for weddings and other big East Indian celebrations. Taking a bit of time to cook, sucklings aged a month to 2 years are incredibly tasty, from snout to toes.
We grew up hearing stories of how mom would feed the sucklings with milk from bottles till they were a few months old, and how dad as a teenager was famous for running around the village catching pigs for the villagers. His family had a khuri (sty) at home in Rose Villa in Poinsur, so naturally he’d gut them too!
Aunty Arlene tells of a story from before I existed aka before I was born. My dad and Uncle Ubaldus were killing a pig for vindaloo or sorpotel. Uncle Ubaldus was the main butcher, dad was assisting. Some time after they’d slit the pigs throat, he stood up and told my dad ‘Oh, now you can let go of the pig’. So he did. The pig stayed still for about five minutes, then wriggled, and then off he ran. After that the whole village was chasing him under the Poisar River bridge on the other side.
It was funny because from the bridge many bystanders were watching and wondering what was happening. Then someone finally got a hold of him. By then the pig had lost lots of blood 🩸 and was slowing down too. But that was the epic pig saga as Aunty Arlene told it to us of the younger generation.
The last time I actually saw people chasing pigs was a long long long time ago, at Cousin Maureen’s farm, when all the cousin brothers and friends ran around for almost 20 minutes trying to catch the dukaar (pig). Fun times!
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Back when I used to eat pork, the crunchy crispy skin was what I loved, while the brain was what Uncle Denzil said was the best part of the roast! Even Cousin Andrew over in the US makes a great bheja fry of pig brains, and Aunty Trilby in Aussie-land makes yumtastic pig brain cutlets. You can use the same recipe as goat brain cutlets for this!
The juicy meat is what the rest of family loves. Anyway, here’s my Aunty Arlene starting to carve a pigling roast. You drooling yet?
Start by Cleaning the Suckling/Pigling
The pigling usually comes cleaned and shaved from the vendor, but it’s best to check if there are stray pig hairs still left, and remove them with a barber’s knife or razor. Then rub it all over with rice flour to remove dirt and wash well. At least, that’s what we do here in India. If you live abroad, you might get your piggy squeaky clean when you buy it. next, rub the suckling all over with salt – inside and outside – and hang by the feet till it dries, and then follow the recipe below.
Stuffed Pigling – Suckling Roast
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Ingredients
To Chop For the Stuffing
- 5 Onions
- 3 Tomatoes
- 2 inches Ginger
- 12 Garlic Cloves
- 5 Green Chillies
- 8 Tablespoons Coriander Leaves
- 8 Tablespoons Curry Leaves
To Boil For the Stuffing
- 500 grams Chicken Liver Goat or Pig Liver also works
- 100 grams Hearts Boil with the Chicken Liver
- 100 grams Stomach Boil with Chicken Liver
- 500 ml Water For boiling the giblets
- 200 grams Carrots
- 200 grams Green Peas
- 500 ml Water For carrots and peas
To Make Fried Bread Crumbs
- 500 grams Bread Slices
- 150 ml Oil or Ghee
For Added Taste
- 3 Sour Limes
- 2 Tablespoons Salt
Spices For the Stuffing
- 1 Tablespoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Pepper Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Garam Masala
Optional In the Stuffing
- 100 grams Raisins
- 50 grams Cashew Nuts Roasted
- 100 grams Pineapple Cubes
For the Pigling
- 5 Tablespoons Ghee Indian Clarified Butter or Oil (For inside belly)
- 5 Tablespoons Ghee Indian Clarified Butter or Oil (For coating)
- 1 Pigling 2 to 6 kilograms
Instructions
Prep Everything (The stuffing is similar to the chicken stuffing recipe)
- Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes and fry till brown in oil or ghee. Keep aside for later.
- Boil the pig/chicken/goat liver for about 20 mins, let it cool and then cut into small pieces. (Can do this a day in advance.) Also retain the liver broth. (If adding the hearts and stomachs, boil in the same pot.)
- Boil carrots and peas. Once cool, dice the carrots into small pieces.
- Dice the tomatoes and finely chop the onion, chilies, ginger and garlic.
- Finely chop the mint and curry leaves and also the fresh coriander sprigs.
Optional
- Chop the pineapple into cubes and set aside.
- Roast the cashews and set aside.
- Remove any twigs or seeds from the raisins and set aside.
To cook the Giblet Stuffing
- Heat oil or ghee in a kadai.
- Add onions, chillies, ginger, and garlic; and saute all for a few minutes.
- When the onions have slightly browned, add in the tomatoes and simmer for a while.
- After the tomatoes, add in the liver, boiled carrots, and peas. Optionally, also add the chopped hearts and stomachs.
- Once this is mixed well add the spices and cook for a few minutes.
- Next, add the liver broth and mix well.
- Optionally, add the pineapple, as well as raisins and cashews.
- After this add in the fried bread cubes. You can add a little at a time so the pot does not get too full. It also helps to mix it better with the other ingredients, aka liver pudding masala.
- When finally done, add the chopped coriander, mint and curry leaves and mix well.
- Sprinkle the sour lime juice over the entire dish.
- And the liver pudding is ready to eat or to use as stuffing!
Roast the Pigling/Suckling
- Once the pigling has dried for a few hours, rinse it well and apply ghee in the belly.
- Then fill it with the stuffing and stitch the opening with a needle and thread. Now cover the entire pigling with ghee.
- Grease a tray with ghee or oil and place the suckling/pigling on it.
- Cook in a forma or oven (at 200 C) for 2 to 4 hours depending on the size of the pig. (Count 45 mins for every kilogram.)
- Add more ghee if required, and cover it with the pan juices. You can turn the pigling over at the half hour mark if you wish, but if you have an oven with good heating it’s not necessary.
- Take a new unused broomstick (or a skewer in modern times) and check if the pigling meat is cooked.
- If it needs more time, cook for longer.
- When the stuffed pigling roast is ready to serve, place it on a bed of stuffing or boiled green peas!
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Notes
- Make the stuffing a day or two in advance if you like.
- Increase the time in the oven depending on the size of the pigling or suckling. Add 45 minutes for every kg of meat.
Nutrition (Per Serving)
Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.
This printable recipe card is for home use only. For more recipes head over to AbbysHearth.com
Tips and Tricks for the Roast Pigling
- Cook the giblet stuffing a day or two in advance to save time.
- On average, the pigling needs to cook for at least 45 minutes per kilogram of meat. So please increase or decrease the oven time as needed.
- We use chicken liver for the stuffing because it’s softer, but you can use goat or pig liver if you prefer.
If a Pigling Roast sounds too difficult, try these other recipes
- Pork Sambari
- Pork Vindaloo
- Honey Roast Gammon
- Tamriale of Pork
- Ukra or Yellow Vindaloo
- Pork Sausages – East Indian Aussie Style
I’m an East Indian foodie and travel blogger from Bombay, India. I love baking, cooking, and making wine at home. But I also love doing stuff around the house and spending time in the Word. You’ll find more info about me here!