South African · Duck

Moh's Duck Curry

A modern Durban duck curry from Mohammed Khalid Moola of Ladysmith, with a nod to France in the orange sauce and his mother's touch of tamarind. Make the curry paste the day before, or at least before you start the duck.

Serves
4
SpicyMake ahead

Method

Curry paste (the day before, or before starting the duck)
  1. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pot. Add the coriander, cumin, sesame and mustard seeds and cook until the seeds pop.
  2. Add the onions and keep cooking until softened. Add the curry leaves, chilli flakes and garam masala.
  3. After 2–3 minutes, add the coconut, then the cashews and turmeric. Cook for 5–7 minutes.
  4. Set aside to cool, then blend into a smooth paste. If it's too thick to blend, add some of the 750 ml (3 cups) water from the "To finish" ingredients (we often need about 500 ml / 2 cups) and keep track of how much you've used. If making it the day before, keep it covered in the fridge.
Duck
  1. Bring the duck breasts to room temperature and pat them dry. Score the skin and fat in a diamond pattern.
  2. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan / 400°F / gas 6).
  3. Dust the duck with the gram flour, salt and white pepper.
  4. Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan until hot and sear the duck on all sides.
  5. Transfer to an oven tray and roast for about 10 minutes.
To finish
  1. Put the curry paste in a heavy-based pot and add the roasted duck, skin side up. Pour in whatever is left of the 750 ml (3 cups) water after blending the paste, then the orange juice, and add the sugar, tamarind and MSG.
  2. Cover and cook for about 20–30 minutes, until the duck is very tender.
  3. Scatter with fresh coriander. Serve with rice, Naan and Raita (both in the Indian section).

From our kitchen

Good to know

  • The cups are South African (250 ml).

How we make it

  1. We use 4 duck breasts in place of the book's 2 ducks, jointed, and keep every other quantity the same.

  2. The book just says to brown the duck for a few minutes and roast it for 20 minutes, with no oven temperature. We bring the breasts to room temperature, dry and score them, sear them on all sides, roast them at 180°C fan for about 10 minutes, then cook them covered and skin side up in the sauce.

  3. Made the curry paste a separate first stage. We make it the day before, or at least before starting the duck. The book cooks the duck first.

  4. The paste is often too thick to blend, so we loosen it with some of the finishing water (usually about 500 ml / 2 cups) and add only what's left at the end. The total water stays at 750 ml.

Based on Mohammed Khalid Moola, from a cookbook (p. 43)