Geng Mussaman

Muslim-style curry of duck with potatoes and onions. This a rich and generously flavoured curry. It is most often made with beef or chicken, but I find duck is an appropriate and delicious variation. As with most Muslim curries, the pieces of meat are considerably larger than in curries of Buddhist origin. The duck, potatoes and onion are deep fried to enrich the curry as well as to prevent them from breaking up during the braising. I like to marinate the meat briefly in a little soy sauce, which gives the duck an inviting mahogany colour. The curry is cooked in a large amount of cracked coconut cream – its oiliness helps to make the complex spicing more unified and mellow – and is finished with fruit juice, normally Asian citron, but you can use pureed and sieved fresh pineapple.

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Ingredients

2 large duck legs or 3–4 duck breasts, about 10 oz (300 g) in total		4 fl oz (120 ml) fish sauce, or to taste
4 tsp dark soy sauce		8 fl oz (250 ml) Asian citron or pineapple juice
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into elegant pieces		8–12 dried red chillies
vegetable oil for deep frying		5 tbsp coriander seeds
8 small pickling onions or red shallots, peeled		2 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
4 tbsp peanuts		1 rounded tbsp cardamom pods
16 fl oz (500 ml) coconut milk		5 or so cloves
Good pinch of salt		2 pieces cassia
1 piece cassia, 3/4 × 1 1/4 in (2 × 3 cm), roasted		2 star anise
5 or so cardamom pods, roasted		5 1/2 oz (150 g) unpeeled shallots
4 Thai cardamom leaves, roasted		5¾ oz (160 g) unpeeled garlic cloves
16 oz (500 ml) cracked coconut cream		2 oz (60 g) chopped lemongrass
9-11 oz (250–325 g) palm sugar, to taste		5 tbsp chopped galangal
8 fl oz (250 ml) tamarind water		salt

directions

Total:

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1
First make the curry paste. Roast the chillies and all the spices, individually, in a wok. Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods, then grind with the other spices. Sieve. Combine all the remaining ingredients and roast them in the wok, with a little water to prevent them from scorching, until brown and fragrant. Allow to cool slightly, then peel the shallots and garlic. Grind the browned fresh aromatics in a pestle and mortar to make a puree, then work in the ground spices.
2
Trim the duck legs of excess fat and skin. Segment the legs. If using breasts, cut them into cubes. Briefly marinate the duck in the dark soy sauce.
3
Rinse the potatoes in cold running water to remove excess starch. Drain well and dry. Heat vegetable oil in a large wok, then deep fry the potatoes until they are golden. Remove and drain. Deep fry the onions; drain. Then deep fry the duck until it too is golden. Remove and drain. Finally, deep fry the peanuts; drain. Set all of the deep-fried items aside.
4
Season the coconut milk with the salt and bring to the boil in a saucepan. Add the pieces of duck, the cassia, cardamom pods and leaves, and deep-fried peanuts. (There should be enough coconut milk to cover the duck.) Simmer until the duck is almost cooked: 10 minutes for breast, 30 minutes for leg. Add the deep-fried potatoes and then, a few minutes later, add the onions. Simmer until everything is just cooked.
5
Meanwhile, in a medium pot, heat the cracked coconut cream and add 500ml (16fl oz) of the curry paste. Reduce the heat and simmer for no less than 10 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent the paste from catching. Be careful, as it may splutter as it fries and it is damned hot. Cook until it is redolent of the spices. If the paste is not oily enough, moisten with some of the fat skimmed off the duck poaching liquid. When the paste is oily, hot and sizzling, season it with palm sugar. Continue to simmer as the sugar dissolves and begins to deepen the colour of the curry.
6
Add the tamarind water and continue to cook, then add the fish sauce. Carefully add the coconut poaching liquid from the duck, followed by the spices, then the potatoes, onions and duck. Simmer for several more minutes, then stir in the juice. Check the seasoning; the curry should be spicy, oily and quite thick. Put to the side for several minutes to allow the favours to ripen, then serve.

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Geng Mussaman

Ingredients

directions