Thursday, December 04, 2008

Slice of Lime-Don't Fear the Curry

Ok, I know this week has been hard on some of you non-hunting types what with talk of carcass gutting and all. Today I hope to soothe you with one of my favorite venison recipes. If you are not of the ilk to go hunt your own meat don't worry, you can use stew beef for this.

This is a recipe I learned from my dear friend Regina who is from Kenya. She had been in the U.S. for a year or so when she mentioned how much she missed venison because it was a staple in the area of Kenya she came from. I told her when Mr. Lime got a deer that year we'd gladly share some of the meat with her. She was overjoyed and insisted we come share the first meal with her family. This stewed venison is what she made. I fell in love.

So...the ingredients. First you need...some venison all cubed up. How much? I dunno, I didn't weigh it and since it didn't come in some plastic wrapped tray with a meat diaper (You know, those pads that soak up the juices) and a bar code with its weight I can't be sure. A pound? Two pounds? Howzabout we split the difference and call it a pound and a half? That bowl of meat there represents hours spent in a cold tree stand, a box of bullets, a new .243 youth rifle, yards of blaze orange fabric, a kitchen full of butchered carcass, a vacu-seal machine, and yes...even a Butt-Out tool, but we won't think of that right now...

You will also need a big can of tomato puree. What? That looks like two small cans of diced tomatoes? You are so observant. Well I was out of tomato puree. This is what I had. I whizzed it through the blender. Voila! Tomato puree. My friend Regina used tomato sauce but I like to use puree because it has a little more texture to it.


We also need curry powder. This is a curry dish. Don't be afraid of the curry. The tomato balances it out nicely. When the time comes you're going to put a ton of this in the dish. I used Trinidadian curry for it and Regina liked it but she said I cooked it so well I should have some Kenyan curry to make it taste like it's from home. In case you don't know curry is a blend and there are roughly 87 gazillion different blends for curry in the world each with a somewhat different taste. Regina carried this all the way back from Kenya for me when she went to visit so I could have that one in 87 gazillion taste.
The other ingredients are oil, garlic (as much or as little as you want, I use about 4 cloves), and onions (2 medium or 1 large). Oh, It also helps if you have a heavy iron pot with a slightly concave bottom..the kind I carried back in my own bag when I was coming home from Trinidad. Lordy, between the iron pot and the bottles of seasonings and the bolts of batik I had in my bag that was one hernia inducing suitcase. Really, this is a very easy recipe once you've convinced a friend to fly to Kenya for curry and you've flown to Trinidad to buy the pot. Very economical. But I digress....
Pour some oil in, heat it over medium heat, add the onions and garlic and let them get translucent.


Once the onions and garlic are all soft you'll add the curry....a lot of curry. See that spoon? It's a soup spoon. I think I filled it heaping 2 times, maybe 3. Ok, split the difference and call it 2 1/2. Don't fear the curry. I woke up this morning to Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper. You can hum that while you sashay around sprinkling curry. Then you can think of the SNL sketch with Will Ferrell and shout, "I got a fever. I need more cowbell! I need more curry!" Tap on the side of the curry can if you don't have a cowbell. Da da da da dada....don't fear the currrryyyy.... Keep dancing. This is my kitchen. We dance when we cook. It keeps the cook happy. Happy cooks make better food.


Ok, now that we've gotten you all over your curry phobia, brown it around with just the onions for a bit then toss in the meat, crank up the heat a bit, and brown everything together. Stick your nose over the pot and inhale deeply....aaahhhh.....

Once the meat is all browned dump in the tomato puree and stir it all around.


Turn the heat back down to medium low and put the lid on. Ya like that lid? the knob broke off years ago while I was in the middle of cooking something. I had been dyeing Easter eggs and had one of those wire dipping thingies sitting on the counter so I twisted it up and jammed that sucker in the lid. I have been meaning to buy a nice wooden knob to fix it with properly but then again, this thing has worked for all these years and it has kind of a quirky personality, not unlike its owner. You can have your fancy pots and pans that shine like the sun and have insulated handles. I wouldn't trade my hernia inducing, burn causing pot with the dangerous wire poking out of the top for all the fancy pots in the world.

Ok, now all the hard work is done because you just let it all stew together until the meat is nice and tender. How long? I dunno. An hour? Two hours? Split the difference....whatever. All you have to do is stir it now and again and make sure it isn't burning. While you wait and contemplate the tasty delight the stew will be you can relax. Feel free to enjoy some reading material that stimulates salivation as well. Well, looky who's on the cover of this magazine....mmmm, yum.

When it's done serve it over rice with a side of peas and carrots and have a belly full of good, stick to your ribs food. Now if this meal were to be truly complete I'd have it with ugali (say oo-golly), which is a boiled Kenyan cornbread. Yes, I know that sounds unappetizing but it's delicious and I'd be perfectly content to have a plate of ugali and the gravy from this stew (Regina tells me this makes me very Kenyan and her husband tells me I make ugali better than his sister....ugali good enough to snare me a Kenyan husband. Glad to know I have options in the world.) Unfortunately, when I went to the cupboard I found some "undesirable alternate protein sources" in my cornmeal. Ick. Let's not think of that. I really am hungry for some ugali to go with this stew though and if you're interested here's a recipe.

Happy eats.

27 comments:

Breazy said...

mmmm it looks and sound good. Have a good day!

Cheesy said...

A friend of mine used to send me green curry from Guam...she doesn't live there anymore DAMMIT I'm out lol....That looks tasty!

Desmond Jones said...

Venison and curry. . . two of my favorite foodstuffs. . .

And you cook just like Molly does - "some of this. . . how much? I don't know. . . just whatever seems right. . ."

Works for me. . .

S said...

But you DID mention the butt reaming tool.

I'm sorry, I am the biggest puss. If I had to kill my own meat, I would be reduced to eating ants and birds.

I
Just
Cant
Do
it!

Bring on the meat diaper.
PS Around these parts we just go to the meat department and get a fresh cut of something wrapped in butcher paper, no diaper, no meat tray.

I want a big can o curry like that
I have a lifetimes supply of curry leaves that I bought in Seattle if you need some.
I actually brought some down here because we dont have curry leaves available around here, but I sorta got carried away and bought a 10 years supply.....

Bijoux said...

I don't think I've ever had curry, but your meal looks very good and hearty for a cold winter day.

And that ugali - I LOVE anything with cornmeal in it. Sounds delish.

barman said...

Oh my, you have done such a great sell job here. I normally am not a curry kind of person but you said, don't fear the curry... And no venison either but I can take the stew meat route. This just may be on the menu for me this weekend. I am sure the curry would clear my sinuses. Yummm.

Anonymous said...

mmm.... that looks good. BTE... I may crank out another in the "cooking in a pith" series over the next couple of days. Just sayin... Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Lose the curry and half the puree add bottle red wine, cook slowly 3 hours and Viola! Venison bourgignone.

Mouth is watering...fetch the curry.

furiousBall said...

i bet you could mail me a plate

Suldog said...

I absolutely adore curry; the hotter, the better, too. I order the hottest curry they have, at a local restaurant, anytime I feel a cold coming on. It sweats it right out of me. Die, cold germs! Sizzle under the power of the curry powder!

Kat said...

That looks SO good. My mouth is watering.
It looks very similar to an Ethiopian dish my ex boyfriend used to treat me to. Except it is missing the awesome flat bread. YUMMY!!!!

Flash said...

I can only do venison jerkey. It tastes too "gamey" for us Chicago kids.

But I may try this little put together....you might of inspired me to give it a second go-around

Anonymous said...

Awesome recipie!!! :) and Ugali sounds quite interesting indeed! Hahaha!

Cheers!

barman said...

Would you look at what I found ... it is from a place out of Raleigh/Durham in NC. The markings on the curry is close to what you have but not exactly the same.

Oh and I surprised myself. It has been a while since I tried a curry. I got some at the store tonight and it was not bad. This recipe is on for this weekend for sure.

Anonymous said...

I don't fear the curry. I fear the venison.

Sheri said...

thats looks fabulous! I'm envious of your culinary skills. We have deer meat int he freezer so I might have to give this a try.

The Zombieslayer said...

OK, I've had about 100+ types of curry, but never had Trinidadian curry. That would be a first.

Geez, I'm going to have to make a trip out there to try some of your cooking. You have no idea how much of a tease these pictures are. That looks yummy.

Lulda Casadaga said...

Lime: Are you giving Buffalodick a run for his money over here!!?? LOL

I'll show my hubby this receipe for him to make soon...after our trip last Sat with hitting the deer and all, I don't want to eat any right now! Will substitute with stew meat, thank u!! :D

There is an African mart that opened up in town...I may have to venture there to see if they have this special curry..I'll keep you posted if I acquire some. I do love curry though...and would also love to try the ugali.

Ed & Jeanne said...

Wait...shouldn't that plate have little dividers so the foods don't touch each other? I see the peas right now going "He's touching me..."

BTExpress said...

LOL, I love the way you describe things. I just think I might try this. I love foods with lots of flavor and spices. There can never be too much for me. I do have one suggestion. Go to the hardware store and buy a cabinet knob for the lid. You may even have one around the house.

Anonymous said...

Sounds yummy.

Hey, don't knock sauteed meat diaper...it was a delicacy in college..

Anonymous said...

Mmmm, I am so hungry!

EmBee said...

Looks yummy! by the way, I have a fondue pot with a tennis racket for a handle... Held on with a bolt and a washer. My MIL is from the depression era so my husband learned to fix broken things with all sorts of jerry-rigging techniques. "Waste not, want not" is the mantra.
:-)

NYD said...

Oh golly! The ugali sounds really interesting. I wonder how different Kenyan curry is from some of the stuff I keep here in Lilliput.

We get bear meat around here. I am sure it works the same way.

Anonymous said...

Looks delicious and thanks for the recipe!

Again it reminds me of how much fun we could have in a joint venture in each others kitchen - one day Michelle :-)

KFarmer said...

I don't really care much for wild game because I like, no love, FAT. But that sounds like something I would enjoy.

I've raised cows and pigs for the freezer and there is a difference in each type of animal. Dairy cows, for instance, don't have much fat so you can't make a hamburger out of it's meat w/out adding some type of fat. Wild hog, not much there either.

But really, it's all good. Especially if you put it on the table yourself :)

Rurality said...

I made this tonight, it was good! I left a few tomato chunks (I only had diced ones too), and that turned out good - gave it texture! I served it over couscous, it was very tasty. Now I just have to figure out what to do with my "cubed venison". :)

Thanks so much for posting this!