Kangaroo Vindaloo

I had to do this recipe.  I like the rhyme just too much!  Vindaloo is a hot curry though, whichever way you look at it. You can reduce the chili and pepper a little bit in this recipe, but if you don’t like spicy food, probably best to go for a different curry entirely than to try to mellow it out too much.

Kangaroo is my choice of red meat, mainly because kangaroos don’t chew the cud, so they don’t contribute to  greenhouse gases.  They are also better adapted to the Australian environment, and they are truly free range meat.  And kangaroo meat is very lean.

It may seem a mission to make your own curry paste, but it is really very easy and worth the effort.  If you are a gardener, you probably have many of the spices for this growing in your garden. Cumin, coriander, mustard, bay, chilies, turmeric, ginger and garlic are all easy to grow in my climate.

Fresh, home-made curry paste also has the advantage of being much more aromatic and those aromatics are exactly what makes curry so healthy. Fresh turmeric in particular is really worth growing just for its health benefits (let alone the recipe options it opens up!)

The Recipe

Cut 500 gm kangaroo steak into 1 inch cubes.

In a heavy bottomed pan, dry roast your spices just for a few minutes:

• 2 bay leaves
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 heaped teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 heaped teaspoons coriander seeds
• 1 heaped teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 heaped teaspoon mustard seed
• ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds

Tip them out into a mortar and pestle, or a spice grinder attachment to a food processor.

Keeping your pan hot, add oil or (more traditionally) clarified butter, and sear the the kangaroo, then remove it from the pan.

Grind the roasted spices together with 2 cloves garlic, 1 heaped desertspoon dried or fresh turmeric, and one (or more) fresh red chili. Add a teaspoon of brown sugar, a tablespoon vinegar and the juice of half a lemon to make it into a paste.

Toss the seared kangaroo pieces in the spice mix to coat the cubes.

Now, still keeping the pan hot, (or reheating it) add a bit more oil or ghee if you need to and saute an onion, sliced thin, and a thumb sized knob of ginger peeled and sliced very thin. Add the kangaroo and cook for a few minutes, then add 1 ¾ cups of hot water.

Simmer very gently for about an hour. About 15 minutes before the end, add 1 desertspooon Garam Masala powder and salt to taste.  I also break with tradition to add vegetables – about a cup full altogether – at this time of year pumpkin, snake beans, and  capsicum.  But you could also go for peas, potato, or sweet potato.   Serve with rice, a cucumber raita, and mango chutney.  Makes 4 yummy serves.