Kerala Duck Curry | Video

Kerala duck curry. Classic spicy curry featuring the robust flavors of spices and creamy coconut milk. It’s a game changer!

Speeding through a super busy life, spending more time in the kitchen and recreating timeless classics is such a treat these days. There’s a huge variety of traditional dishes here on the blog ranging from all-time favorite butter chicken to the popular aloo paratha.

Occasionally, I love the idea of using duck instead of chicken to cook up an impressive yet unexpected dinner for my family. Of course, there’s no limit to what you can create with delicious duck meat. But today, as I mentioned, I just want to stick to a traditional recipe with its origins from the authentic cuisine of Kerala.

To create this Kerala duck curry, I started with preparing the duck. Remove the skin and chop it down into medium-sized pieces. Then, make the base curry sauce to cook the duck pieces.
Don’t worry. It’s such a simple recipe, to be exact, it’s as easy as making a good chicken curry. The only difference is that duck requires longer cooking time.

To a hot pan, you’ll need to add a couple of tablespoons of oil, and stir fry garlic, ginger and green chilies. Brown some onions and curry leaves followed by the addition of dried spices like ground turmeric, ground coriander, garam masala, red chili powder and chicken masala.

You might have noticed that I don’t usually use chicken masala in my dishes. But, duck needs a stronger flavor of spices, and chicken masala certainly adds the right touch. The deep layers of flavors is what makes this Kerala duck curry so special.

The key is to coat duck pieces really well in the masala, and fry for few minutes until the meat starts to absorb the flavors. Then, pour in water to cover the duck pieces, and wait until it’s cooked through. Again, as I mentioned, duck always need longer cooking time – about 45 minutes.

However, I do have a simple trick up my sleeve to drastically reduce the cooking time. Pressure cooker. You just need to transfer the curry to the cooker and wait for 4-5 whistles. Your favorite instant pot is yet another way to speed up the cooking process.

Once the duck pieces are cooked, stir in coconut milk and add a sprinkle of lightly crushed black pepper. At this stage, do not boil the curry. Just heat through.

This Kerala duck curry tastes best when served with palappam (Rice crepes), idiyappam (string hoppers), parathas and even rice.

 

More duck recipes:

• Spicy Duck with Herbed Yogurt Dip
• Kerala Duck Roast

Yield: 4

Kerala Duck Curry | Video

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Tender duck cooked in mildly spiced coconut milk based sauce

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil (coconut oil for authentic taste)
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 1/2” fresh ginger, crushed
• 4 green chilies, slit
• 3 large onions, sliced
• 2 sprigs of curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric (turmeric powder)
• 2 tbsp ground coriander (coriander powder)
• 2 tbsp garam masala
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tbsp chicken masala
• 1 kg duck, cut into medium-sized pieces
• 1 tbsp lightly crushed black pepper
• 1/2 cup thick coconut milk (coconut cream)
• Water
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger and green chilies. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add onions and 1 sprig of curry leaves. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until onions are browned.
2. Add ground turmeric, ground coriander, garam masala, red chili powder and chicken masala. Sauté, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add duck. Stir to combine. Fry duck in the spice mixture for 3-4 minutes. Stir occasionally.
3. Add water to cover duck pieces. Add 1 sprig of curry leaves. Season with salt. Cook, covered, for 45 minutes or until duck is cooked through.
4. (Alternatively, cook duck in a pressure cooker. Transfer the curry to pressure cooker and cook for 4-5 whistles)
5. Stir in thick coconut milk (or coconut cream). Add ground black pepper. Heat through.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 600Total Fat 86gSaturated Fat 30gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 49gCholesterol 213mgSodium 362mgCarbohydrates 22gFiber 5gSugar 7gProtein 52g

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