Duck Penang Curry

You need to be able to use a stick blender or a nutribullet to finely chop all the curry paste ingredients.

Serves 4
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Preheat oven to 180c or 160c fan

Ingredients

Curry paste:
2 shallots diced (or a small onion)
2 thumb sized pieces of ginger peeled and roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic roughly chopped
2 sticks fresh lemon grass (woody bits removed) and sliced
1 tbsp dried chilli flakes
1 red chilli seeds removed and chopped
4 kafir lime leaves

1 tbsp shrimp paste (if you don't have use 2 tbsp fish sauce instead)
2 tbsp roasted peanuts (with more to sprinkle on to serve if wished)
1/2 tsp salt

Main ingredients 
1 aubergine

4 duck breasts
160ml coconut cream

400ml tin coconut milk
2 red peppers sliced
5cm piece cinnamon stick
2 Star anise
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tbsp palm sugar (or soft brown)
1/2 lime juiced and the rest cut into wedges to serve
Thai basil, small bunch torn
Serve with rice cooked to packet instructions

Method

Chop the aubergine into chunks and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and using your hands make sure the chunks are well covered. Bake for 20 mins then set aside. 

While the aubergine is baking, put all the curry paste ingredients in to a tall plastic cup and use a stick blender with 1-2 tbsp water and blend well until a paste  (if using nutribullet use a little more water if needed.)

Heat the coconut cream in the casserole dish. When hot add the curry paste ingredients and cook for 5 mins.

Pour in the coconut milk, peppers, cinnamon stick and star anise and add 100ml water. Simmer for 15 mins.

While the sauce is simmering, score the fat of the duck breasts with a sharp knife diagonally not cutting into the meat, just through the fat.

Put the duck breasts skin side down in a cold frying pan and bring up to a hot heat slowly over about 10-15 mins to crisp the skin and render as much of the fat as possible. 

Pour out the excess oil and keep for roasting potatoes another day.

Put in the oven for 5-6 mins and rest for 10 mins somewhere warm - checking with a knife that the duck is pink but not raw.

Add the fish sauce, sugar and lime juice and torn thai basil to the sauce and taste adding more of whatever you feel it needs to taste

Add the aubergines and loosen the sauce with more water if desired. 

When the duck has rested slice thinly.

(can be amalgamated with sauce and frozen at this point. Defrost thoroughly before heating).

Plate up the rice then sauce, lie the sliced duck along and pour a little more sauce on top. If you like sprinkle with some crushed peanuts and lime wedges.

Enjoy!