FESTIVE CURRIES

Spice up your Christmas with Tom Kerridge’s freezable dishes

Ilove curry. I don’t care if it’s Thai, Indian or chip shop curry sauce (though to be fair, that’s my favourite), the warmth of spices cooked with big flavours like ginger and garlic is addictive. Another thing I love about them is that most actually get better if they’re made ahead and they freeze beautifully, plus they’re straightforward to make and serve, they feed loads of people and you get massive respect for cooking one. So here are my three favourites for freezing, giving you a little something different to have up your sleeve when it comes to hosting over the holidays.

Venison madras

The red meat in this curry is interchangeable with lamb or beef, but I’ve used venison to make it more of a celebration. I’ve given you two options here, one for an easy curry using a shop-bought paste or a recipe for the paste if you have time.

SERVES 6-8 PREP 30 mins

COOK 3 hrs 25 mins plus overnight marinating EASY G

1.5kg stewing venison, diced into large chunks around 3cm square For the marinade

8 garlic cloves, grated thumb-sized piece ginger, grated 100ml full-fat plain yogurt

1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika 60g tomato purée

For the sauce

100g butter

5 large onions, chopped

8 garlic cloves, peeled and grated 6 tbsp Madras spice paste, shopbought or see recipe, right 600ml beef stock

400g can chopped tomatoes 100g creamed coconut in a block 10 dried curry leaves rice, sliced green chilli and natural yogurt, to serve 1 To make the marinade, mix all the ingredients for it with some salt in a bowl, add the venison and stir to coat, then cover and place in the fridge overnight.

2 Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Spread the venison out on a baking tray lined with parchment and roast for 30-35 mins, stirring halfway through if needed, until the meat has lots of colour. If the meat is releasing too many juices, spoon some of them off halfway. Reduce the oven to 170C/150c/gas 3.

3 While the venison is cooking, heat the butter in a large casserole dish and fry the onions for 15 mins over a medium heat until golden brown, then add the garlic and cook for a few mins more. Stir in the spice paste and fry for 5 mins, then add the stock and tomatoes and crumble in the creamed coconut along with the curry leaves. Bring to the boil, add the venison to the dish and stir to coat in the curry sauce. Season with salt, then cover and cook in the oven for 2 hrs-2 hrs 30 mins until the sauce has thickened and the meat is tender. Chill for up to three days and reheat before serving, or freeze for up to three months (see p84 for Tom’s freezing tips). Serve with fluffy rice, a dollop of yogurt and some sliced green chilli.

GOOD TO KNOW fibre • iron • 2 of 5-a-day

PER SERVING (8) 455 kcals • fat 19g • saturates 12g • carbs 18g • sugars 14g • fibre 6g • protein 49g • salt 0.7g