A Recipe for Pheasant Curry

Turn a wild bird into a simple, flavorful meal
wild pheasant curry
Wild pheasant curry. Jamie Carlson

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Very seldom does cooking or eating surprise me. I usually have some idea of how things are going to taste, or how dishes will pair with other foods. But when I tried a curry recipe that was paired with wild rice, I was absolutely blown away at how well curry and wild rice went together. It was so good I almost forgot I had used pheasant in the dish.

This recipe calls for one pound of pheasant, which is about one whole bird. The combination of breast, thigh, and leg meat adds different textures to the dish and works really well. As curries go this is a very quick and easy curry (and if you don’t have pheasant, grouse, partridge, or even chicken will work just as well).

pheasant meat and spices
Wild pheasant curry in the works. Jamie Carlson

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. pheasant, cut into 1-inch chunk

3 clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1 handful of raw shelled peanuts (roughly chopped)

2 tablespoons of curry red paste

8 oz. fresh snow peas

1 can coconut milk (14 oz.)

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 lime

3 fresh red chili, finely sliced

Small bunch of fresh cilantro, separate the leaves and stems and then finely chop the stems

Canola oil

curried pheasant meat
Curried pheasant meat, in the skillet. Jamie Carlson

DIRECTIONS

Put your wok or large frying pan on a high heat and add 2-3 tablespoons of Canola oil. Sauté the garlic, ginger, most of the chopped chili, and the cilantro stalks for 30 seconds.

Add the curry paste and stir for another 30 seconds. Add in the pheasant, cook for a minute or so, and then add the snow peas and coconut milk. Cover and let cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the fish sauce, then taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Turn off the heat

Sprinkle with cilantro leaves, the remaining chilies, peanuts, and a wedge of lime. Serve with wild rice