Name: Hot and Sour Venison
Yield: serves 6
Ingredients: 3 teaspoons paprika; 1 teaspoon turmeric; 2 teaspoons ground coriander; 2 teaspoons whole black mustard seeds (sarson); 3 lb lean stewing venison – trimmed and cut into lin cubes; 10 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper; 10 cloves garlic – peeled and finely chopped; 12 oz onions – peeled and finely chopped; 6 tablespoons wine vinegar; 2 teaspoons cumin seed – roasted in a dry saucepan until brown and aromatic, then ground; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds (the small black grains cut out of the pale pods); ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 3 tablespoons lemon juice; 1 pint water; 1 tablespoon peeled and finely grated fresh root ginger; 2 teaspoons salt; 6 softish pitted dried apricots – chopped; ½ teaspoon ground cloves

Preparation info

serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Independent Cook

By Jeremy Round

Published 1988

About

The immediate thought when cooking venison cuts of less than roasting or griddling quality is to stew or casserole them with olde Englishe disguising agents such as juniper, red wine, orange peel and redcurrant jelly. Cream sometimes then appears in an attempt to lubricate what can be a rather dense, dry meat and the whole thing becomes indigestibly rich and heavy.

This is an attempt to go in the opposite direction by cutting through venison’s fragrant hint of decomposition with bru