Duck tikka and mushroom madras can be made easily at home
As part of an ongoing series of posts showing you how to make British Indian Restaurant (BIR) style curries, I thought it was time to offer you this old favourite - Duck Tikka and Mushroom Madras.
The word tikka means 'pieces'. Usually these tikka are off the bone though I have had this delicious and hot curry served on the bone as well.
This BIR recipe can therefore be prepared in a number of ways.
Here I will show you my favourite options.
Please note that preparation option one takes a lot more planning but oh is it good!
Option two can be done quickly and easily. The end result is still mouthwateringly good and also less fattening. This is the version I'm showing up there in the right hand corner of this post.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, British Indian restaurant style cooking is all about delivering great Indian food to the table quickly. You are going to need to make my BIR style curry gravy before hand. This can be a big job but my recipe is for a large batch and it does freeze very well.
Make the gravy and you could be making top quality BIR curries quickly and easily in your own home whenever you want.
Click here to view the list of free restaurant style curry recipes I am adding to regularly.
You could of course purchase a ready made curry gravy but the resulting curry just won't be as good. I strongly recommend going the home-made route.
Serves 3 - 4
INGREDIENTS
1 farmed duck (option one) or 3 farmed duck breasts
1 Tablespoon garam masala
Curry sauce ingredients
3 Tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1 Inch ginger - grated
1 Tablespoon turmeric
700ml (3 cups) curry sauce
1 Tablespoon cumin powder
1 Tablespoon coriander powder
2 Tablespoons red hot chilli powder
1 Tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves
2 cups field mushrooms - cut in half or quartered
3 Tablespoons chopped coriander
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon garam masala
Duck preparation - option one
Bring a large pot - capable of holding the duck - to a boil.
Make about 30 holes in the fatty skin of the duck with a fork.
When the water is boiling rapidly, carefully place the duck in the water.
Allow to boil for about four minutes and then remove the duck from the water and dry it with paper towels.
Using a hair dryer, dry the skin even more. The more moisture/fat you can dry off the duck the better.
Now rub the skin of the duck with the garam masala and hang in a cool place for a few hours or preferably over night. This will allow more fat to drip from the skin and allow for nicer, crispier skin.
When you are ready to cook the duck, preheat your oven to it's highest temperature and bake it until crisp and the meat tears away easily. This takes about an hour.
Duck preparation - option two
Remove all the fatty skin from the duck breasts and cut the breasts into bite sized pieces.
Add a little oil to a pan and throw in the duck pieces.
As the duck pieces (tikka) cook, pour in about three tablespoons of the curry sauce.
Allow to cook in the gravy until the duck is just cooked through.
To finish
If using a whole duck, cut it into bite sized pieces on the bone.
Pour about three tablespoons of oil or ghee into a wok or pot and place over medium high heat.
Sprinkle in the turmeric powder and add the garlic and ginger. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
Now add the mushrooms and fry for about 30 seconds.
Add the curry gravy, cumin, coriander powder, chilli powder and fenugreek leaves and stir to combine.
When the curry is nice and hot add the duck tikka pieces.
If you are using the crispy duck option, try to stir the duck while keeping the skin dry and crispy. This is not easy!
To Serve
Check for seasoning. Add salt and pepper as needed and top with the fresh coriander leaves and garam masala.
I really love this curry and hope you do too! If you want, you can add a little chilli powder to make a vindaloo but for me, this duck tikka and mushroom madras is hot enough!
Neville says
Hi Dan
Just wondering if this recipe could be used for other meats too or will it require a variation of ingredients and method.
Thanks
Neville
Dan Toombs says
Hi Neville
Yes. The great thing about British Indian Restaurant (BIR) cooking is that the recipes can be used with all sorts of meats.
The only thing you need to be careful of is which type of meat you are using. For example, lamb takes a good hour to cook and become tender, where chicken and duck only take a few minutes.
If you decide to use another meat, be sure it is tender before adding it to the sauce. You will find instructions under 'Restaurant Style Recipes' on my site about how to pre-cook meat and poultry.
The most important thing is that you have fun with it. Use my measures as a guide, but by all means take out a little of this or add a little of that to your own tastes.