cumin pork Archives | CaribbeanPot.com

Over the years we’ve done Chicken Liver, Chicken Hearts, Grilled Pork, Chicken and the classic Geera Pork. Recipes I’m all proud to have shared with you all. Today we’ll change up the technique a little (explained in the video below) and use pork riblets to make what I believe is better than the regular Geera Pork.

You’ll Need…

3 lbs pork ribs
1 lemon (juice)
3/4 tablespoon geera seeds (cumin)
1 teaspoon curry powder
5-7 cloves garlic (smashed)
2 scallions (divided)
1 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
3/4 tablespoon salt (adjust)
1 scotch bonnet pepper (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 – 2 tablespoon ground roasted geera (cumin)
6-7 cups water
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro (coriander)

Notes! May I recommend that you follow along with the video below as much more about the recipe is discussed there. Use as much hot pepper (what you like and can source) as you can tolerate (this is usually made spicy). And while I wished I had Chadon Beni (culantro), Cilantro (coriander) is easily available and a great substitute. In the Caribbean cumin is known as geera. If making this recipe gluten free, please go though the full list of ingredients to ensure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary requirements.

At the local Asian supermarket where I shop for my ribs, they’re sold as pork riblets and I believe they’re used in making sweet and sour pork. Wash with the juice of a lemon or lime and cool water and drain / pat dry with paper towel. Place them in a heavy pot on medium flame and cook for about 7-10) minutes.

After which you’ll remove about 1/2 of the fat and discard. This step is to help render out that extra fat as explained in the video. Now turn the heat to med/low and add the geera seeds and cook for 3 minutes. This is the first layer of geera!

It’s time to add the curry powder, garlic, white parts of the scallion (chopped) black pepper, Scotch Bonnet pepper, Caribbean Green Seasoning and salt. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.

It’s now time to add the ground roasted geera and stir well to coat the pieces of pork.

Your kitchen should have that lovely aroma of something great happening.

Turn the heat up to med/high and add enough water to cover the pieces of pork riblets. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

You’ll need to cook this between 75 and 90 minutes or until the pork pieces are tender. Add more water if needed during the cooking process.

Once the ribs are tender, you can now personalize things. Taste and adjust the salt to your liking and determine if you want to have a gravy or cook until dry (more pronounced flavor). In my case I wanted a bit of gravy to enjoy with steamed rice.

Combine the cilantro with the green (tops) of the scallions and add to the pot. Stir, turn off the heat and enjoy!

Be sure to add more geera if you’re a huge fan of this aromatic spice and you may add a chopped onion when we added the garlic at the start if you wanted.

Classic Geera Pork (Spicy Cumin Pork).

May 27, 2025January 6, 2018Leave a Comment

The original version of this recipe, along with a Chicken rendition were shared a few years back, but with increased requests from fans on Instagram I thought I’d share a slightly different method of cooking this spicy dish we adore in Trinidad and Tobago. Geera as we’ve discussed in previous recipes is simply the word we use when referring to Cumin.. and to be quite honest, I’m NOT a huge fan of this spice. While this version (like the traditional way) is very spicy, you can certainly cut back on the amount of pepper you use so don’t be scared off.

You’ll Need…

3 1/2 lbs pork (cubed)
juice of 1 lime or lemon to wash the pork
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 heaping tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoon roasted ground geera (cumin)
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon geera seeds (cumin seeds)
2 scallions (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (smashed)
2 tablespoon cilantro (chopped)
1 tablespoon parsley (chopped)
2 pimento peppers (aka seasoning pepper) diced
8 bird pepper (bird’s eye pepper) chopped
1 1/4 cup water

Important! If doing this recipe gluten free, be sure to go through the entire list of ingredients to ensure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. I used Bird’s Eye Peppers, but you can use any spicy pepper you like and in the amounts you can tolerate. I opted for a fatty piece of pork as I find you get better results than using a more lean piece.

Cut the pork into 3/4 inch pieces and wash with the juice of a lime or lemon and cool water. Drain and season with the salt, black pepper, roasted Geera powder and Caribbean Green Seasoning. Mix well to coat / combine. Usually I’d say to marinate this for at least 2 hours, but with the following process we can get cooking immediately.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wide (heavy pan) on medium heat, then add the geera seeds, turn the heat down and allow them to cook for about 3 minutes. The goal is to create a wonderful base of flavor to aid with replacing having not marinated the pork. Then go in with the scallions, seasoning peppers, bird’s eye peppers, parsley, garlic and cilantro. Were I in the Caribbean I’d be using Shado Beni (culantro) instead of the cilantro.

After about 3 minutes after adding the peppers etc, turn up the heat to medium-high and start adding the pieces of seasoned pork to the pot. Stir well to coat the pieces of pork with that amazing base of flavors we created. Do not cover the pot as we want to sear the pieces of pork.

You will notice that the pork will spring a lot of natural juices, that’s expected (don’t panic). Allow this to cook on medium high until that liquid burns off and you can see the oil we started with at the bottom of the pot. It will take about 8-10 minutes. Then it’s time to add the water, bring to a boil, after-which you must reduce the heat to as low as it can go so the pot is gently simmering. Place the lid on the pot slightly ajar and allow this to cook until the pork is tender.

After 35 minutes the pork should be tender, but there may still be some liquid in the pot so remove the lid and crank up the heat. I like my Geera Pork to be free of gravy, so I usually burn off the liquid as mentioned. You may choose to have a bit of gravy, so taste for salt and adjust according and personalize the gravy situation to your liking. In total I cooked my dish for about 45 minutes after adding the water and the pork was fork-tender.

Just before turning off the stove I tossed in a bit more cilantro and seasoning peppers (diced fine) to add a bit of color to the overall dish. Depending on how ‘fatty’ the pork was that you used, there may be a bit too much oil at the bottom of the pan (as in my case) so I spooned it out on paper towels and tossed it in the garbage. Never pour such fat down your kitchen sink or you’ll need a plumber as a friend.

It was Christmas time when I made this as my friends were coming over to play dominoes and this is one of fav snacks to have when we’re enjoying some adult beverages.

Do you own a copy of my cookbook ?- The Vibrant Caribbean Pot 100 Traditional And Fusion recipes Vol 2

Meat & Poultry

Tantalizing Trini Geera Pork.

May 27, 2025December 11, 201065 Comments

I’d like to make it clear that tough I may use the term “Trini” from time to time, it’s no intention to leave out my country folks from Tobago. This recipe is uniquely Trinbagonian, as with many of the recipes I share on this blog. I’m no fan of geera (Cumin) and I’ve only tried this dish once before and it was more out of respect that I did. I didn’t want to offend our host when they had this prepared for us during a recent trip down the islands. However, I’ve found that I do like the way my recipe turned out and it made me change my mind about not liking geera. Seems “yuh boi have sweet hand after all“…

My search for the perfect geera pork recipe saw me hit a number of websites online and the one thing I did see mention was that geera pork is considered a “cutters”. Like how the Spaniards have tapas, a snack enjoyed while sampling “beverages”. This I didn’t really agree on, since I do know that this dish makes its way on many dinner tables on the islands as well. Another thing I noticed in the recipes I found is that there are a few variations of making this. Some people use whole geera seeds (cumin seeds) and toast them a bit then add the seasoned pork. While others add the same roasted ground geera that I used, but at the end. Nigel on facebook commented that to avoid any sort of “bitter” taste, that the geera should be added near the end of cooking. Thanks for the tip Nigel.

Here’s my foolproof way of making geera pork…

You’ll Need…

3 lbs pork – 3/4 inch cubed
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium tomato diced
1 scotch bonnet pepper (any hot pepper… I used habanero)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon green seasoning
4 leaves shado beni chopped or 2 tablespoon cilantro chopped
2 small onions sliced (divided)
4 cloves garlic sliced thin or crushed
2 cups water
2 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 heaping tablespoon roasted geera powder (cumin)
1/4 teaspoon curry powder (I used a Caribbean style madras curry blend)

* I used a piece of pork from the leg which had a good marble effect with little bits of fat, but with this dish I’m sure that a leaner piece would work if you’re concerned about the fat. However I do like the moist way the end product is without the use of lean meat. In the end it’s your choice.

Start by cutting the pork into small pieces, about 3/4 inch thick. Then pour the lime or lemon juice over it in a bowl and rise off with cool water. Drain well and season as follows: add the tomato, salt, black pepper, curry powder, 1 onion sliced, green seasoning, shado beni or cilantro and hot pepper. Yes, we’re using a whole pepper for this one, but it’s only because this dish is known for being extra hot. But you can adjust to your own tolerance. You’ll also notice that I used a tiny bit of curry powder and other recipes will not have that listed. I love the extra level of flavour this adds to the dish while marinating.

trini geera pork

trini geera pork (2)

Give it a good stir and allow it to marinate for a couple hrs in the fridge. The next step is to heat the oil on medium/high heat (in a heavy pot if you have one) then add the the next onion (sliced) and the garlic. Allow that to cook on medium heat for about 4-5 minutes or until the edges start to go brown. Now add the roasted geera powder, but turn down the heat to medium/low so we can cook this for a few minutes without it actually burning. BTW if you’re shopping for a good heavy pot, check out the full options at Cast Iron Pots.

trini geera pork (3)

trini geera pork (4)

trini geera pork (5)

It should become a bit thick and start sticking to the bottom of the pot… that’s normal. The aroma will be intense, but wonderful! Now it’s time to add the seasoned pork to the pot. Add a few pieces at a time and stir as you go along. You want to pick up all the geera paste we created with the pieces of meat, so everything is coated.

trini geera pork (6)

trini geera pork (7)

Empty the entire contents of the bowl that had the seasoned pork. Now bring it up to a boil, then lower it to a simmer and with the lid on… allow it to cook for about 20 minutes. It will spring up it’s own natural juices.After 20 minutes turn up the heat to high and cook off all that liquid. Takes about 5 minutes. Try to make sure the bottom of the pot is completely dry, then add the 2 cups of water. Bring it up to a boil, then lower to a gentle simmer (covered) and allow to cook for another 45 minutes or so (I like it tender). If you find that it’s tender enough for you at this point, turn up the heat and allow all the remaining liquid to burn off.This is usually served without any gravy, but I love me some gravy so I didn’t cook off all the liquid.

trini geera pork (8)

trini geera pork (9)

The complete meal this day consisted of brown rice, dhal and the geera pork. I was quite surprised how delicious it turned out, knowing that I had little love for geera (cumin) and the best part – I didn’t have heartburn problems after

Show me some love by leaving a comment below, even if it’s just to say hello – it’s appreciated. Don’t forget to join us on face book, by clicking on the image on the upper right side of the page.

cumin pork

Geera Pork Riblets.

Classic Geera Pork (Spicy Cumin Pork).

Tantalizing Trini Geera Pork.

Log In