Christmas in July Main Course..........Mild Venison and Prune Curry

Mild Venison & Prune Curry with Cranberry Chutney

This is part 2 of the Christmas in July menu, and to me there is nothing better in winter than good venison, it is fairly priced, easy to cook into comfort food and in many countries it is a Christmas meat as it is usually hunting season in winter. This is a nice warm dish that goes extremely well with good old samp.

Serves: 6

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 ½ Hours

Ingredients for the Curry

1,5 kg Venison goulash

3 TBSP butter

6 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 thumb size piece of ginger finely chopped

2 onions roughly chopped

1 TBSP Mild curry powder

2 TBSP mixed garum masala

1 TBSP ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 TBSP ground all spice berries

2 TBSP brown sugar

2 tins whole peeled tomatoes

250g pitted prunes

2 cups good dry red wine

1lt good quality beef stock

1lt water

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Place the prunes and red wine in a bowl and microwave for about 1 minute, this will help the prunes to suck in the wine, then leave to stand for at least 3 hours before using.

Brown off the venison in the butter to start developing a good flavor base, take the venison out of the pot and add in the onions and sauté for about 5 minutes until they start to brown, then add in the garlic and ginger and continue to sauté for another 3 minutes, add back the meat along with all the spices, whole peeled tomatoes, beef stock and water. Leave to simmer on a medium heat for about 2 hours, then add in the prunes and red wine and let simmer for the remaining 30 minutes, check the season and adjust to your taste.

It is always best to cook this the day before eating as the flavours develop and mature.

Ingredients for the Cranberry Chutney

1 Tin Cranberries

2 TBSP white wine vinegar

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 cup sugar

1 clove garlic

Juice from 1 orange

2 sprigs of thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Place all the ingredients into a small saucepan and simmer for about 20 minutes until it thickens.

Take off the heat and leave to cool before using.