Giving In to Curiosity: Pheasant Red Curry

I’m fast becoming one of ‘those people’ who likes to do as much of their shopping at their local farmers’ market. Not that this is a bad thing, of course; more just a casual habit that I appear to have got in to. It’s closer to me than any shop - although admittedly only there on a Sunday - which certainly helps, and the range of things you can get is quite surprising.

Being game season - a tough part of the year to get through, I’m sure you’ll agree - I’ve been frequenting the stall from Ridley’s Fish and Game. Sure, Northumberland might not be hugely local, but it’s also not particularly far away. A couple of weeks ago I got some lovely venison - which met a bottle of wine and became a hearty venison stew - and last week (I’m a little behind in my blogging) I got distracted by their stall again and (after several minutes of indecision) opted for some pheasant.

Pheasant is one of my favourite game birds (although, to be fair I like all of them), but is something I always associate with uni. Not because we ate pheasant - much as that would have been amazing - but because of a lab practical we did. To put it in context, I studied biology, and so the avian respiratory system crops up every so often in the second year. Understanding it was also one of the practicals, during which you had to dissect a bird. We did it on pheasants. I know, St Andrews or what? Although in fairness to the biology department, it was only because one of the senior lecturers lived near a pheasant breeder. Anyway, without going into too much gory detail, my lab partner and I’s was possibly a little passed its best and there was a lot of gas building up. And, well, let’s just say that the heart had become a little bit like a balloon, and I’ll leave you to imagine what happens when you pop a balloon with a scalpel. Luckily my reactions were quick enough to notice this and pull my head back in the nick of time.

For those that I haven’t sent running for a nicey-nicey food blog about pretty cupcakes, we’re now all on the same level. And that is what I think of every time I encounter pheasants. I guess for many people that experience might put them off; but I have a strong stomach which also happens to be quite partial to tasty food, so I am anything apart from discouraged.

Back at the farmers’ market I was - as previously mentioned - being a little indecisive. Thankfully the lovely lady behind the stall was on hand to ask what I wanted and (inadvertently) force me to make a decision. When I said I couldn’t decide between another venison stew or a pie of some sorts she produced a fantastic little booklet with some game recipes in it. The one that immediately stuck out to me - although about a country mile from my original ideas - was for a red curry, made with pheasant.

I was both a little wary and immensly intrigued. Would the spices not over power the flavour of the meat? Would it be a total waste? Could I forgive myself if it wasn’t up to muster? Curiosity got the better of me though, and pretty soon I had picked up some onions from another stall and was in the kitchen raking through my spices, trying to work out what I could substitute in for the ones in the recipe that I didn’t have.

Fast forward a few hours and I was sitting at the table, trying to eat my curry at a reasonable pace, despite my almost-overpowering urge to guzzle. It was absolutely delicious. I got the balance of spices just right (for my taste), and the bold flavour of the meat shone through the warmth of the spices, giving it that unmistakable game feel. This is a recipe that will be coming out of that little pamphlet and into my recipe notebook to make another time. I may or may not gone back this past weekend and stocked up my freezer with a few more packs of diced pheasant, much to the joy of one of my friends who has been making jokes about me eating my way through the Animals of Farthing Wood ever since. I think I might pass on Adder, unless curiosity strikes again.

Pheasant Red Curry

This recipe is adapted form a leaflet that I was given by the stall holder that sold me the pheasant, I’m unsure of its initial source. It will do nicely as a dinner for two.

Ingredients

250g pheasant
2-3cm of root ginger (roughly)
2 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 onion
3 coriander seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp paprika
3 tbsp natural yoghurt
1 stem of rosemary
250ml water

Directions

Blend the ginger, garlic, and a few splashes of water together (a liquidiser is the easiest way) and set to one side.

Chop your pheasant meat into chunks, no bigger than 5 cm. In a pan heat half of the oil and brown off the pheasant pieces (but just browning the outside - the rest of their cooking will happen later). Set the pheasant aside and pour the remaining oil into the pan. Chop your onion finely. Once the oil is hot add in the cumin, cloves and cinnamon, letting them sizzle for a second before adding the onion. Cook until it is golden brown.

Stir the ginger mixture into the onions and add the remaining spices (paprika and coriander seeds) then add the natural yoghurt, water, rosemary and pheasant one-by-one, mixing each time.

Cover and simmer gently for 30-35 minutes, or until the pheasant is tender.

Serve in a bowl with naan bread or similar.

Craig (207 Posts)

Edinburgh-dwelling, baking and food-obsessed, twenty-something adventure enthusiast. Runs on liberal amounts of coffee, cheese, cake and gin; bribable with same.