Ingredients

For the curry paste

  • 1 lemongrass stalk
  • 2cm root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 small onions, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 2 red chillies, roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric

For the curry

  • 1 Gressingham half aromatic duck
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 5 kaffir lime leaves
  • 200g butternut squash
  • 1 aubergine
  • 200ml chicken stock
  • 1 tin of coconut milk (400ml)
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tsp palm sugar
  • 10 mangetout, washed
  • A few sprigs of fresh basil

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°c or 180°c fan. Remove any packaging from the half aromatic duck, place it on a baking tray and roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, make the curry paste. Remove the hard end and dry top half of the lemongrass stalk, then roughly chop the remainder. Grind all the ingredients for the paste together in a pestle and mortar. Alternatively, you could blitz everything in a blender to a smooth consistency.
  3. Put a large pan onto a low-medium heat and pour in the oil, then add the curry paste and lime leaves. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a little water if anything starts to stick. Meanwhile, prepare the butternut squash and the aubergine by peeling the squash, topping and tailing the aubergine, then chopping both into 2cm dice.
  4. Add the butternut squash and aubergine to the pan, lightly season and stir for 2 minutes. Pour in the stock and coconut milk, bring to the boil and then simmer until the duck has finished roasting. Remove the duck from the oven, carefully shred the meat off the bones with two forks and add it to the curry sauce along with the fish sauce and palm sugar. Stir everything together and simmer for a further 10 minutes, adding a touch of water if the sauce is drying out too much.
  5. When the curry is almost ready, stir in the mangetout and adjust the seasoning after tasting the sauce. Spoon the curry into two warm bowls and garnish with fresh basil just before serving.