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1
Pound or blend the soaked dried chillies, fresh turmeric, ginger, lemongrass, garlic, shallots, and shrimp paste to a smooth, cohesive paste, working until no fibrous threads remain — unblended lemongrass fibre and ginger will stay coarse in the finished curry rather than dissolving into the sauce. The paste is ready when it is uniform in colour, a deep ochre throughout.
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2
Heat the oil in a heavy pot or wok over medium heat, add the paste, and fry, stirring constantly, for 5–8 minutes, so the raw harshness of the turmeric and chillies cooks away and the aromatics sweeten and deepen rather than dominate the finished dish. The paste is ready when the raw smell has lifted and the oil begins to separate and pool at the edges — that separation tells you the moisture has driven off and the paste will coat the pork rather than steam it.
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3
Add the pork belly pieces and ribs and stir thoroughly to coat every surface with paste, continuing over medium heat until the paste clings to the meat with no pale, uncoated patches visible — uncoated patches will produce bland pockets in the finished curry where the flavour never penetrates. Keep the heat at medium so the paste does not scorch against the dry pot while the pork begins to release its own moisture.
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4
Add the tamarind water, palm sugar, and fish sauce and stir to combine, then pour in just enough water or stock to barely cover the pork, because a generous amount of liquid at this stage will make the long braise produce a thin, washed-out sauce rather than the dense, lacquered finish the dish requires. Bring everything to a gentle simmer before reducing the heat.
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5
Reduce the heat to low and braise, partially covered, for 2 to 2½ hours, turning the pork occasionally — the partial cover lets steam escape steadily so the sauce concentrates while the meat cooks gently enough for the fat in the belly and the tissue around the ribs to melt into the liquid, giving the sauce its body. The braising liquid should murmur steadily, never boil hard; the pork is approaching readiness when the sauce has visibly thickened from the rendered fat and the meat yields without resistance when pressed with a spoon.
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6
Add the pickled garlic cloves and continue to braise, uncovered, for a further 30 minutes, removing the lid so the sauce reduces further and tightens around the meat. The garlic should soften and take on the colour of the curry but retain its shape, contributing its gentle, vinegared sweetness without dissolving away entirely.
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7
Taste and adjust the seasoning — this is where the dish lives or dies: the tamarind must read as the dominant note, more prominent than in any other Thai curry, with palm sugar as a clear, generous secondary sweetness, and the turmeric-ginger warmth and fatty pork richness sitting behind both. If the sour note is indistinct, add more tamarind water in small increments; if the sweet-sour balance tips too far toward sweetness, add tamarind; if it tips too far toward sourness, add palm sugar; fish sauce carries the savoury depth. The finished curry should taste sour first, sweet second, savoury third.