Venison Curry Recipe

Valentine Warner's recipe for Venison Curry

"Taken from The Good Table published by Mitchell Beazley”

Serves 4

A large handful of shaved dried coconut or 3 tablespoons unsweetened desiccated coconut 40g ghee or butter 2 small red onions, finely chopped 1 cinnamon stick (about 4cm long) 6 black peppercorns 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 large thumb-sized piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped 1 teaspoon flaked sea salt 4 cloves 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 2½ teaspoons hot chile powder 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper ¼ star anise ½ teaspoon cumin seeds 1 teaspoon garam masala 3 tablespoons tomato purée 500g venison fillet (be it red, fallow, sika, roe or muntjac), cut into medium cubes 300ml coconut water or water juice of ½ lime shredded coriander leaves, to garnish rice, paratha or naan bread, to serve

In a dry frying pan, gently toast the coconut until you notice the first signs of it colouring. Allow to cool. Melt the ghee or butter in a wok or pan (the lighter and thinner the metal, the better, as it is closer to using Indian cookware such as a balti).

Throw in the onions and cook fairly briskly with the cinnamon and peppercorns until softened and deep golden, taking care not to burn them. Using a pestle and mortar, or blender, crush the garlic, ginger, salt and all the remaining spices into a fine paste and combine with the tomato purée. Add the curry paste to the onions and fry for 2–3 minutes, stirring often. Do not let it burn. Add the meat and briskly sauté for a couple of minutes. Add the coconut water or water and lime juice and bring to a rapid simmer for 4 minutes, or until you have a thickish gravy.

Remove from the heat and scatter with the coconut and coriander. Serve with rice, paratha or naan bread.

Photographs ©Jonathan Lovekin.