Kua Kling Kwang

Heat a wok over a medium heat until it's good and hot. Add the paste and start stirring and scraping until it's really fragrant, no more than 1 minute. Note that this curry does not use any oil, so it's important to keep the paste moving to ensure it doesn't burn. If it looks like it is sticking too much, add a dash of water. Now add the pork to bring some fat and moisture to the paste, turning and cooking and mixing it through the flavours. Then add the venison, really scraping and stir-frying it through the paste and pork. You want everything well combined and cooked through. Add the palm sugar and 1 tbsp of nam pla, stirring through. Add the ground turmeric, if using. Taste and add more nam pla if needed – the curry should be very hot, fragrant and salty. Remove from the heat and stir through the lime leaves and the lemongrass. Serve with freshly cooked rice and some crunchy vegetables on the side. If you can't find dried Thai bird's eye chillies, African dried peri peri chillies make a good substitution.

Toast the dried chillies in a hot, dry frying pan (skillet) for a few moments until they are very crispy, shaking them constantly to keep them from burning. Using scissors, snip off the stem ends, then snip them up into small pieces, removing the seeds as you go. Soak the pieces in warm water for about 20 minutes. Drain and dry on paper towels. Then, with a pestle and mortar, pound the paste ingredients together in the order listed above (alternatively, blitz them together in a blender along with 1–2 tbsp of water) until you have a smooth-ish paste.