Venison curry
Venison slow-cooked in fragrant herbs and spices, perfect for a casual weekend dinner with friends.
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 8 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
- thumb-sized piece root ginger, peeled and grated
- 100g/3½oz plain yoghurt
- 1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
- 60²µ/2¼´Ç³ú tomato purée
For the curry
- 1kg/2lb 4oz wild venison, diced
- 25g/1oz ginger-garlic paste, from a jar
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 200g/1lb 5oz tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 300²µ/10½´Ç³ú onions, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tbsp ground coriander
- 2 tbsp ground turmeric
- 2 tbsp juniper seeds, crushed
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 2 green chillies, finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
- 2 tbsp Greek-style yoghurt
For the naan bread
- 100g/3½oz Greek-style yoghurt
- 150ml/5fl oz milk
- 2 tsp salt
- 500g/1lb 2oz plain four
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp extra virgin rapeseed oil, plus extra for kneading
For the raita
To serve
- 500g/1lb 2oz cooked white basmati rice, to serve
Method
To make the marinade, place all the ingredients into a bowl. Stir in the venison and leave to marinade for least an hour or preferably overnight.
To make the curry, heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onions and fry until they are a light golden brown. Add the venison and cook for 5 minutes until the juices come out of the meat.
Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook for 4–5 minutes. Add the spices and chilli and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the tomatoes, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover with a lid or parchment paper and cook for 1–1½ hours until the meat is soft and tender. You may need to top up with a splash of water from time to time if it becomes too dry.
Meanwhile, to make the naan breads, place all the ingredients in a large bowl, mix well and leave to rest for at least an hour.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead into a soft dough. Divide into eight and shape each piece into naan breads.
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and dry-fry the naan breads in batches, for 3–4 minutes on each side.
To make the raita, mix the ingredients together in a small bowl.
Take the curry off the heat and stir in the yoghurt. Scatter over the coriander and serve with the rice, raita and naan breads.
