Venison Curry

It sounds a bit untraditional to me, since I've not heard of too many deer in India (though I'm sure there are), however I adore venison. Luckily for me, I was recently organizing my freezer and happened across some small venison steak strips. I recalled that this batch was a little on the chewy side, and what better way to tenderize some meat than stewing it in a curry?

For those of you who are still skeptical, let me wax a bit poetic. Venison is gamey and thus laced with the flavor of the land, it has the delightful mouth-feel of well worked muscle (think beef shank or goat or what-have-you), it's delightfully lean, and (and!) I get it free from my dad or one of his friends. Really, what more could I ask for in a curry meat?

As for the curry itself, I keep it pretty simple. Onions, spices, meat, yogurt. With a side of rice. And some naan. Delightful.

Venison Curry
serves 3-4

1/2 to 1 lb venison strips (depending on how much meat you like in your curry)
1 tablespoon of oil
1-1/2 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ginger
extra chili powder (or fresh spicy pepper) to taste
salt to taste
2 to 2-1/2 cups yogurt

(0. If you so desire, you can marinate your meat. I do this in one cup of the yogurt and some of the spices)

1. Sear the meat, then reserve.

2. Add the oil to the pot, then sauté the onions.

3. Add your spices and stir until the onion is well coated with the mixture.

4. Add the meat back in, as well as the yogurt (or the yogurt and marinade).

5. Let simmer partially covered until the yogurt sauce has reduced to a pleasant consistency, stirring occasionally. I know this is vague, but it really does have more to do with personal preference than anything else. I let it simmer for about 45 minutes.

Notes:

--You always want plenty of carbohydrates with curry. This could be a side of rice (white or brown), or you could put in potatoes, or some mostly cooked chickpeas. Really, curries are quite flexible. You just have to push the envelope and experiment.

--Another delightful thing to add to curries is fruit. Mango, especially. In this case, you want to divide the cut up fruit into two batches. Add one batch at the beginning. This will quite likely dissolve into the curry. Then, at the end add the second batch and cook until just soft (as in, not at all for mango, but longer for things like apple).