Duck Curry from Mauritius

Mauritius is a holiday island in the Indian Ocean where many different cultures have come together to create Mauritian cuisine.  Europe and Asia have strongly influenced the food and helped make it a holiday in your mouth.  Tasty and delicious, you'll be wanting more!

thumb-sized piece of ginger chopped
8 large garlic cloves chopped
2 small  chilies
1 teaspoon salt
1 duck cut into portions
1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2  onions finely chopped
4 tablespoons curry powder, mixed with water to make a wet paste

1 cup water

1/2 cup coconut milk
4 tomatoes roughly chopped
1 handful fresh coriander roughly chopped

Place the ginger, garlic, chili and a pinch of salt in a mortar, use your arm muscles and pound it to a chunky paste.  Set that aside and move onto your duck.  Place the duck portions in a bowl and season with the salt and pepper.

Heat a large pot, add a little oil and brown the duck pieces in batches. When all the pieces are browned, remove them from the pot making sure that you leave a little melted duck fat behind.

Add the finely chopped onions and sauté until light brown and soft. Add the ginger, garlic and chili paste.  Sauté for about another 2 minutes before adding in the curry paste, chili powder, cumin and turmeric.  Stir it in and allow to cook for another 2 minutes. Add the water, the duck pieces and any juices that have leaked out. Mix it in well and add the coconut milk. Let it simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.  Add in the roughly chopped tomato and let it simmer for another half an hour to give the sauce a chance to reduce. Taste whether you have enough seasoning and adjust if necessary.  Add the chopped fresh coriander just before serving.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv in Ukraine.  She is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B.  All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format. http://cindyvine.com            

Koosa from Lebanon

An old school friend of mine, Jeannette Ferriera Mostert, shared her favourite recipe with me and I decided to do a little research and then do my own take on it.  The traditional koosa dish consists of a large marrow stuffed with a mince and rice mixture and boiled in a tomato based sauce.  Where I live I can't find those large marrows so this take on the traditional recipe is a little different.  Just think of it as a deconstructed koosa.

2 large courgettes (baby marrows) or a punnet of small ones
400g mince
1/2 cup long-grained rice
salt and pepper to taste
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
1 green chili finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 can whole peeled tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 cup water or chicken stock
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Bulgarian yoghurt
Mix the mince, seasonings, rice, garlic, chili and onion together in a bowl.  Form into meatballs and place on the bottom of a large pot.  Slice the courgettes into rings and some of it into about 3cm long thin slices.  Lay the sliced courgettes on top of the meatballs.  Pour over the can of whole peeled tomatoes and the small can of tomato paste.  Add the water and lemon juice so that the food is covered.  Cook on medium heat for about 45 minutes until the rice inside the meatballs is cooked.  Add extra water if need be to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.  When serving you can pour Bulgarian yoghurt over the meatballs.
Cindy Vine is a South Africa currently living and working in Kyiv Ukraine.  She is the author of Not Telling, Defective, Hush Baby and C U @ 8.  All her novels are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format.