We had had venison the other night, and so I made this curry with the left-overs. The original recipe uses venison fillet from a roe or sika deer, but the venison we had was of a more formidable cut. We had pot-roasted it, and so I diced up the remains and hijacked a few other recipes for ideas. I also used up a few bits from the depths of the fridge.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, or other vegetable oil
- 2 small red onions, finely sliced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 500g diced cooked venison
- 200ml coconut water
- 200ml coconut milk
- grated zest and juice of one lime
- 4 small cloves of garlic, minced
- 50g ginger root, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves, or 4 cloves
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp hot chilli powder (I used Kashmiri chilli powder)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground star anise or 2 star anise
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 50g tomato puree
METHOD:
- I use an old coffee grinder attachment with my blender to grind up spice mixes, but a pestle and mortar will do the job. In the spice grinder, grind together the fennel, salt, cumin, cloves, ground star anise (if this is what you have) and garam masala. Add the chopped ginger and the garlic, and grind again. Then add the tomato paste and mix well.
- Melt the coconut oil in a large pan and fry the onion with the whole star anise and the cinnamon. Fry over a medium heat for five to ten minutes, until it is begining to brown. Add the spice mixture and continue frying for another couple of minutes
- Add the meat and continue frying for another couple of minutes, until it is hot, and then add the coconut water, coconut milk, lime juice and lime zest. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook until the meat is hot through, around another five minutes.
This is good with plain white rice.