• Start by preparing all the ingredients by washing, chopping everything as needed. Set aside for later. In a pan toast two teaspoons of mustard seeds (you can use these untoasted too). Bruise and cut into 2-3 pieces one lemongrass stick.

Cooking the rice

• Cook rice as per pack instructions and here is how to cook the perfect rice for this curry. Use 150 ml coconut milk as part of the water. I cook this rice with less water as I like it nice ' n fluffy. Here is how I make the perfect rice for this curry. I use one part of rice with 1 ¼ water, cover it with a nice lid, place it on fire and when the water starts to boil, turn the heat all the way down and cook for 7 minutes.

  *note - I always use the same mug or cup to add both the rice and the water. So, for 1 cup of rice, you will use 1¼ cup of water.
• To the rice, just before starting to cook, add one or two tablespoons of coconut cream (from the thick cream topping the coconut milk) 2 tablespoons of desiccated coconut, the toasted mustard seeds and one de-seeded, finely chopped red chilly.

To make the curry

• While the rice is cooking, start cooking the curry. Simply place a deeper pan on medium heat.
• Into the pan add the diced duck meat along with the chopped shallots. No need for oil since the duck meat is quite fatty itself. Add 50ml (¼ cup) water to get it started if you wish and cover. Cook for 10 minutes or so.
• While the meat is cooking and begins to smell unbelievably good, chop and prepare all the other ingredients. The only ingredient that needs special treatment is the lemongrass. I love this flavour so much that I can't do with adding it to the curry and then removing it later. I smash it in a mortar with the pestle and get it smashed as well as possible.
• Add the roughly chopped green beans to the meat and cook for 2-3 min covered. I like my beans a little crunchy - cook for longer if you want them really soft.
• Remove the lid and add the grated ginger, the pestled lemongrass, coconut milk, curry powder, salt, garlic, pepper, chilly and lichées if you choose to add those. Cook for a further 5-6 min uncovered on medium heat. Covered or uncovered. Add the lemon juice, mix and turn the heat off.
• Garnish with some coriander leaves and serve on that lovely fluffy coconutty rice.
• A M A Z I N G! Enjoy this really lovely duck curry dish!