Duck, Duck, Goose

[jw46]

Have a duck in our freezer, that seems to call to me, "Eat me, Eat me"...

Have googled "recipes indian duck"...About a bazillion hits on Bombay Duck, which of course, is fish...

A couple recipes for "Duck Vindaloo"...While almost any of gods creatures would indeed be enhanced by preparation Vindaloo style, I can't seem to find much else.

Is waterfowl not popular in India?, or am I just not looking in the right places?

[mongo_jones]

i could be wrong but i think malayalis might eat duck. east-bengalis too. i'll ask my grandmother if you like.

[Vikram]

Do a search on this forum and you'll see there have been several references for duck with Indian food. There are mentions of duck samosa, tandoori duck and of course duck vindaloo. Here's a post I'd written some time back about a rather disastrous duck experience of mine:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...30entry371548

Duck vindaloo is a traditional East Indian Christmas dish (I've already gone on about East Indians on one of the threads on this list, so lets not do it again, just lets say I'm referring to highly specific East Indian community in Bombay). They used to get the ducks some weeks before Christmas to fatten before cooking them up.

I tried doing this last year. No, not fattening them up, I think my flatmate at that time would have had distinct objections to a couple of ducks wandering through the flat. But I managed to get a couple of ducks after a considerably complex process involving the mother of an East Indian friend of mine, a very specific poultry butcher in Bandra who got them on order and a very bewildered cousin of my friend who had to pick up two big dead ducks and store them in her freezer till I could come and collect them. Ducks, it seems, are not longer much in demand these days.

And then I cooked them I sort of gathered why. It was the first time I was cooking ducks, and I hadn't realised they'd be so different from chicken. So I made the vindaloo masala (using a recipe from Patricia Brown's excellent book on Anglo Indian food) and left them simmering for quite a while, thinking they'd become nice and tender. In fact, the exact opposite happened: their fat melted off and floated in a orange tinted sea on top of the dish, while the flesh below took on the texture of old rope.

A few of my friends, entirely out of loyalty to me, did try chewing their way through the carcasses, but they soon gave up. (Luckily my kitchen is never short of a couple of packets of Goa sausage, so they were quickly pressure cooked as a very acceptable substitute). So much for ducks then, but I should give the recipe a shot again, since the gravy was really delicious. It had a slightly pickled flavour from all the vinegar, but without the overpowering acidity of most pickles - my friends may have abandoned the carcasses, but they gobbled up the gravy and I don't think it was only extreme hunger that made them do it.

Does anyone have tips for cooking ducks with Indian food? I think I remember that Chitrita Banerjee has a very delicious sounding Bangla recipe for duck cooked with oranges - an interesting take the old Western pairing, in a very different context. Some awful person has taken my copy of Life & Food In Bengal though, so even if I dared to try ducks again, I wouldn't know where to start.

I haven't heard of Malayalis eating duck much, but East Indians certainly do. Apart from the vindaloo recipe like the one I refer to here, there are several others like a duck baffat. Could PM you the recipe if you like,

Vikram

[Peppertrail]

Have a duck in our freezer, that seems to call to me, "Eat me, Eat me"...

Is waterfowl not popular in India?, or am I just not looking in the right places?

jw46:

Christians of Kerala do prepare some duck dishes. I found a few recipes in Mrs. K.M.Mathew's book Modern Kerala Dishes. The recipes are for Duck roast, Duck roast with biriyani stuffing, Duck curry with powdered masala, Duck roast prepared using curd, Duck festival fry, Duck fry and Duck - crushed masala curry.

I have not tried to cook any of these dishes, but if you are interested I will be happy to post them.

[Monica Bhide]

I would like to try this as well. The few times I have tasted duck it has been dry..

What nobody missed me and I was gone for four days.. I guess I may have moderated myself out of a job

[Episure]

What nobody missed me and I was gone for four days.. I guess I may have moderated myself out of a job 

I was wondering and then I thought you might be busy with your cookbooks.....

This is the way I make Duck:

Wait for the dec\jan\feb winter.

There are migratory Ducks (without valid visas)that land at Nasik/Igatpuri area's waterbodies(4 hour's drive from Bombay) .

Wait a month for them to feed and fatten up a bit.

Wear leggies and dark clothes, carry hipflask filled with single malt and wade out at around 5 pm.

Patience, patience and more patience.

Try and discern between coot and duck.

Bang, miss, bang, miss, bang, dinner!

Marinate in garam masala, milk and garlic. (pre-made)

Pot roast whole duck.

Serve with bajra roti. (pre-made)

I could improve on this but there is the limitation of cooking alfresco.

On second thought I dont think I could improve on this even in a fully equipped kitchen.

[mongo_jones]

There are migratory Ducks (without valid visas)that land at Nasik/Igatpuri area's waterbodies(4 hour's drive from Bombay) .

episure,

how patriotic of you to spare our desi ducks and only go after the ones who disrespect national boundaries. maybe throw some cloves and cinnamon in the pot next time? or bring some pre-made crumbled crispily sauteed onions?

mongo

[Peppertrail]

I would like to try this as well. The few times I have tasted duck it has been dry..

Monica:

Here are two duck recipes from Mrs. K.M. Mathew’s Modern Kerala Dishes. I think dsp stands for dessert spoon.

Duck Curry with powdered masala

500 grams of duck cut into pieces

2 dsp chili powder

1 dsp coriander powder

½ tsp pepper powder

¼ tsp turmeric powder

½ cup coconut oil

1 tsp mustard

2 dsp sliced onions

1 dsp vinegar

salt to taste

Combine chili, turmeric, pepper and coriander powders and mix with water to make a paste. Heat oil and fry mustard seeds. Add onions. As it browns add the spice paste and stir and cook over low fire till oil separates. Add meat pieces and stir for a few minutes. Pour boiling water to cover. Add salt and vinegar. Allow the duck to cook until it is soft. Gravy may be reduced to desired consistency.

Duck roast with curd

1 kilogram duck (whole)

4 dsp coconut oil

2 dsp small red onion paste

2 dsp onion paste

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

2 dsp ground red chili peppers

¼ tsp cumin seeds broiled and powdered

¼ cup curd

3 dsp melted ghee

3 dsp onions sliced round

Cook whole duck in salted water. Heat oil and brown onion paste first and then ginger, garlic and chili pastes over medium fire. Stir in curd. Cook till water in the curd is absorbed. Add the stock from the boiled duck. Stir well and pour over the duck. Cook till oil separates and the gravy coats the duck. Heat ghee and brown onion lightly and add to the gravy. Serve hot.

[Episure]

how patriotic of you to spare our desi ducks and only go after the ones who disrespect national boundaries. maybe throw some cloves and cinnamon in the pot next time? or bring some pre-made crumbled crispily sauteed onions?

mongo

NOYTA CCCP is what I was looking for!

but pre-made crumbled crispily sauteed onions would be what the doctor ordered!

We are on a Roll here Doc!

[jw46]

What nobody missed me and I was gone for four days.. I guess I may have moderated myself out of a job

You should have told us you would be gone...or perhaps, not...No telling what trouble we might have gotten into in your absence...

[jw46]

yes, please PM me all those wonderful waterfowl recipes...will add them to my already overfull folder that one of these days I will have to organize..."I know it's in here, somewhere"...Not a particularly organized cook...

[bague25]

JW46

The East Indians also make Duck Fugad and Duck Kodhi. I'll PM you the recipes. This may take some time though I have to type them.

Vikram

Please, please can you PM me your recipes too? I'm sure they are more authentic than mine. BTW, you should be given “honorary East Indian” status (Gosh do you defend us!!)