Duck gravy Kerala style

While we were living in Singapore I have had the fortune to savor the famous Pekin duck. A whole duck, basted with lot of spices, slowly roasted to perfection. Carved duck meat is then rolled into paperthin rice papers and served. It is worth a visit to Singapore or China only for this. Please don’t try Pekin Duck at P F Chang’s in U.S. They have no clue how to make Pekin duck.

Duck meat is a delicacy mainly due to its scarcity. Fresh duck meat is available here in U.S, a little expensive, but we get them extremely fresh from duck farms out here. We point to a whole live duck gobbling around and they would kill and clean it for us. That fresh!

Duck meat is harder, so you would have to cook it longer. While cutting or cleaning the duck, you will realize how hard the meat is than chicken. Accordingly, use more time in cooking duck meat. Check Asian or other specialty stores for duck meat.

Here is a Kerala style recipe for preparing duck. (You can use this method for any poultry)Cut and clean into bite sized pieces. Keeping or removing the skin is up to you and depending on the duck you get. If duck is fatty, don’t keep the skin. If not fatty, keep the skin.

For 3 cups of duck,

3 tsp of garlic and 3tsp of ginger grated and made to a paste
1 cup of onion

Heat oil, Saute onion and when translucent, add ginger garlic paste, 4 green chilies diced, 2 sprigs of curry leaves. Add ½ tsp of turmeric powder and salt. Sauté well.

Dry roast 6 tsp coriander seeds, 4 cardamom, 10 cloves, 1 tsp mace, 2 stick of cinnamon and grind dry. Add this and 2 tsp of red chili powder to the onions and mix and saute for one minute. Add the cleaned duck and mix well and add 3 tbsp of water and enough salt cook well. Cook until the meat is very soft.

Now, Roast 1 cup of coconut, 3 pods of garlic and 1 sprig of curry leaves until light brown. Grind this to a paste.

Heat oil, sauté ½ cup diced onion until brown, and then add ½ cup diced tomatoes and ½ cup potatoes and add the ground coconut mixture with 1 cup of water. When it boils, add the cooked duck and cook with lid open until the gravy is thick.Serve with rice or roti.