Kari sousouri

Ingredients

Meat

• 2fruit bats, prepared
• or 1 kg dark game meat
• or 1 kg goat, as a substitute
• juice of 3 limes
• 2 teaspoonssalt

The pot

• 3onions, sliced
• 8garlic cloves, crushed
• 4cm ginger, grated
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 3 tablespoonsSeychelles masala
• 1 teaspoonground turmeric
• 20curry leaves
• 2chillies, chopped
• 1cinnamon stick
• 4 tablespoonsoil
• 400 mlcoconut milk
• 2 tablespoonstamarind paste
• about 500 ml water

To serve

• plain rice
• chatini
• lentils
• lime wedges

Directions

1. Joint the prepared bat into pieces. Trim off every trace of fat and gland. Rinse all the pieces thoroughly. Rub them hard with lime juice and salt. Let them sit for at least an hour. Rinse and repeat that once more. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the curry leaves, standing back. Add the sliced onions to the pot.
2. Cook them for a good twelve minutes. They should turn a deep golden. Add the garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook them for a good two minutes. Mix the masala with a little water. Add that spice paste to the pot. Fry it for a good four minutes. Stir it constantly so it does not catch.
3. Add the meat pieces to the pot. Turn them through the spice paste. Let them brown for about eight minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes to it. Cook them down for about six minutes.
4. Add the cinnamon stick to the pot. Pour in all of the measured water. Add the tamarind paste to the pot. Season the whole pot with salt. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Cooking it takes genuinely real time. Cover the pot and simmer very gently. Give it at least one full hour.
5. Top up with hot water if it goes dry. Adding the coconut milk is done late. Add the coconut milk for the last twenty minutes. Stir it through the pot thoroughly.
6. Keep it at a bare simmer from then on. Coconut milk splits if it boils hard. Taste it and adjust the salt now. Add more tamarind if it tastes heavy. Add lime juice if it needs sharpening. Serving it is done hot with rice.
7. Spoon it out over plenty of rice. Serve chatini alongside the bowl. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• Bats are known reservoirs for lyssaviruses related to rabies and for Nipah and Marburg viruses, and handling and butchering them is a documented risk through bites, scratches and contact with blood and tissue; thorough cooking addresses foodborne risk but not the risk of handling raw bats, gloves should be worn, and any bite or scratch needs immediate medical advice.
• The Seychelles fruit bat is not currently threatened and is hunted legally under regulation, which is unusual among flying foxes; many other Pteropus species are endangered and several have been driven to extinction by hunting, so never assume a flying fox elsewhere is safe to take.
• The scent glands must be cut out entirely or the meat is inedible, and the lime soak is not optional: it cuts the strong smell and tenderises meat that is dark, lean, gamey and tough.

Substitutions

• Goat or dark game meat makes a comparable curry and is the sensible substitute.
• A mild curry powder stands in for Seychelles masala, used generously.

Variations

• Some cooks add more chilli for a hotter curry.
• The lime soak is repeated two or three times by some households.
• Kari pwason uses the same masala base with fish instead.

History

Curry of the Seychelles fruit bat, a large endemic flying fox; the meat is dark and gamey and the dish is a national delicacy.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kari sousouri?

Kari sousouri is a main from Seychelles: fruit bat curry, an old island delicacy. Curry of the Seychelles fruit bat, a large endemic flying fox; the meat is dark and gamey and the dish is a national delicacy.

How long does Kari sousouri take to make?

Kari sousouri takes 40 minutes plus marinating of preparation and 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Kari sousouri?

Yes, within limits. Goat or dark game meat makes a comparable curry and is the sensible substitute. A mild curry powder stands in for Seychelles masala, used generously.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kari sousouri?

Add the cinnamon stick to the pot. Pour in all of the measured water. Add the tamarind paste to the pot. Season the whole pot with salt. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Cooking it takes genuinely real time. Cover the pot and simmer very gently. Give it at least one full hour.