Well, since I had the nerve to critique one of uber Chef Prateek Sadhu’s culinary creations, I decided to put my money where my mouth is, with reference to his ‘confit style’ duck on a horsegram stuffed parantha, whereby I suggested adding both a touch of sweetness and char to the duck meat, in addition to employing some kind of crisp bread base …
… and voila, here is the outcome of my trial: ‘shredded duck confit, tossed in an aubergine pickle, stir-fried and mounted on a sturdy poha poppadom’, and even if I say so myself, it’s a pretty darn lip-smacking dish, the use of pickle inspired by Chef Manish Mehrotra’s sublime meetha achaar pork ribs.
I decided to serve it with the same cauliflower mousseline I used last week on the thali service as chaperone to the classic French Duck leg confit, since it provides both a counterbalance to the spice and a third texture to the assembly; not all Indo western partnerships work, but this one does, and far better than expected to boot.
Since I have neither any training nor natural skill in cooking Indian food, this is somewhat of a cheat dish, for which there really is no recipe; the duck confit and cauliflower mousseline recipes are of course already available on DiyaSethi.com, section Treat of the Week, (the mousseline as a sub recipe to the Prawn a la Kiev), but the rest is simply a matter of a store bought aubergine pickle, brand Bolst’s (which I happen to just love) and your own palate … I will merely show you the technique here-below.
First and foremost, take your prepared duck leg confit (STEP 1), and using your fingers or a knife and fork, separate the meat from the bone (STEP 2); it will naturally separate into pieces, so no need to further shred. Then place those pieces in a dish and toss in some of the melted white butter in which the duck was cooked (STEP 3).
Next, measure out some of the Bolst’s pickle (STEP 4), and chop it up roughly so that the larger aubergine pieces within are easily incorporated into the meat (STEP 5); I used about ¼ of the weight of the duck meat, and sprinkled a bit of caster sugar over the duck meat too, so that it would caramelize during the stir fry. The amount varies, but I would use the sugar like you would salt. The pickle is not very sweet, but it is quite spicy, so the sugar has a dual benefit. Then toss the duck meat in the pickle on the chopping board itself (STEP 6), and before you proceed with the stir fry, prepare your papad.
I have used this wonderful brand AAZOL (IMAGE 1 & 2), which I stumbled upon online; I fried up the trio of Beetroot, Ragi & Poha, and selected the poha one as the base for this recipe, although each one is sturdy enough to hold the duck meat and be lifted onto a serving plate if necessary.
Then transfer the duck to a non-stick frying pan, and stir fry over medium heat until it is slightly blackened and caramelised (STEP 7). Lift out with a slotted spoon as it will have released a lot of oil (STEP 8), and then onto the centre of a papad (STEP 9). Garnish with microgreens, and serve on one of your pretty thalis with the cauliflower mousse in tow! (FINAL IMAGE)
Above: Final Image