Crocodile and mango curry

SERVES 4

1 red onion, sliced

½ red capsicum (pepper), cut into thin strips

vegetable or peanut oil

1 tablespoon ready-made red curry paste

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) crocodile meat, diced (available from gourmet butchers)

1 tablespoon tamarind paste

375 g (13 oz/2½ cups) fresh mango pulp (see note)

400 g (14 oz) tin coconut milk

4 makrut (kaffir lime) leaves

1 lemongrass stem, bruised

16 snow peas (mangetout), trimmed

16 green beans, trimmed

2 baby eggplants (aubergines), cut into 1 cm (½ inch) thick rounds

1 handful of chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). In a flameproof casserole dish, sweat the onion and capsicum in a splash of vegetable or peanut oil until almost starting to go golden, then add the curry paste and cook for a minute or two. Add the crocodile and mix well to coat the meat, then add the tamarind paste. Cook over high heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Mix in the mango pulp, then add the coconut milk, lime leaves and lemongrass stem.

Transfer to the oven and cook for about 35 minutes, adding the vegetables after about 20 minutes.

Stir through some coriander and then serve in a big bowl on some basmati rice. Garnish with the remaining coriander.

If you can’t buy fresh mangoes then buy some frozen cheeks from a greengrocer and thaw them out — when thawed, put them in the blender and blitz them to a pulp.