So OK, I admit it: I originally designed this recipe as a joke. I really wanted to make an Indian rabbit curry and call it “Hare Krishna,” so I did. For those who somehow don’t get this joke, is it a play off the Hare Krishnas, who used to bother us in airports decades ago. I know, I know. It’s kinda hyuk, hyuk humor. Guilty.
And yes, I know that real Hare Krishnas are vegetarian. And that they eat vegetarian curries, not rabbit curries. Sorrynotsorry.
There is an ulterior motive at work here, too, however. I have a lot to learn about Indian food, and making curries is a good way to start that journey. This is one of my first forays into the subcontinent’s cooking (the other being a Goan crab curry), and while I like curry just fine, it is still a cuisine foreign to me.
As for this recipe, it’s fun — and since I used a store-bought curry paste, super easy. You can literally have this bad boy done in an hour.
Basically this is a Madras chicken curry turned into a rabbit curry. I have not yet found a curry designed for rabbit in Indian cuisine, but I am betting it exists. So in that vein, if you don’t happen to have rabbits lying around your fridge, use chicken or any other white meat.
Rabbit or Hare Curry
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup ghee, clarified butter, or vegetable oil
- 2 pounds hare or rabbit meat, cut off the bone and into chunks
- Salt
- 2 cups yellow or white onion, sliced root to tip
- 2 tablespoons minced ginger
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- A 14-ounce can of tomato puree
- 1 cup plain yogurt, Greek style is best
- 2 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 heaping teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 cup Madras curry paste, or 2 tablespoons Madras curry powder
- 1 tablespoon Garam Masala
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the clarified butter in a wide pot (like a sauce pot or high-sided frying pan with a lid) over medium-high heat. Pat the hare pieces dry with paper towels and brown them well. Salt the meat as it cooks. Remove to a bowl once browned.
- Add the onion and saute until it begins to brown at the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook another minute.
- Return the meat to the pot and add the tomato puree, water, bay leaves, turmeric and Madras curry paste. Stir in the yogurt and bring to a gentle simmer. Add salt to taste and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Finish by stirring in the Garam Masala and the cilantro. Serve over rice.
