Red Beef Curry

So, quick story before we start this recipe off. Beef is not something I grew up eating because both of my parents, being Buddhists, were very much against the slaughter of cows. My mother grew up eating beef curry because her father's family were coastal Christians who ate pretty much any animal without waste, but my mother, despite knowing how to make a delicious beef curry, never once made it for us. So on this one, I had to practice, compile my research and go in blind. I am happy to say that my skill and technical knowledge with curries really helped me figure out the best way to bring out the flavour of the spices. There are key things I need to touch on before we start the recipe, so here we are.

Recipe Notes:

Cut of beef: It is important you select a cut of beef that's somewhat fatty. Because of the long cooking time that needs to happen for this curry to be a success. I used diced brisket, and honestly the cheaper cuts work best. This recipe can easily be substituted for other types of red meat such as lamb or goat, but I do not recommend pork for this style of curry. Much of the richness of the curry comes from the animal fat of the meat rendering into the sauce so a lean cut of meat isn't the most ideal because it will dry out the meat. The danger with a cut of pork is that it will render down too much fat and you will have an unpleasant split oil film in you curry instead of a nice settling of oil on the top.

Searing: This step is CRUCIAL, so please do not skip it. A lot of the recipes that I watched and read for research did not necessarily do this step but anyone that's ever slow cooked a red meat would be able to attest to the fact that searing meat off makes a world of difference to the texture of the meat. Do this in batches and ensure the pieces of beef have space to caramelise (i.e for the Maillard Reaction to take place). If you overcrowd the pan, the beef will stew in its own juices and dry out. What searing does is that it allows the rapid high heat to trap the blood of the meat in the middle of the piece of meat. I know this sounds gross but this entrapment of blood is what's going to ensure that your beef isn't dry and falling apart when the curry is done.

Timing: This is not a recipe you can rush. You need to ideally marinate the beef overnight and the cooking time is usually about 2 hours. So make sure you allow yourself sufficient time. Yes you can opt opt to use a pressure cooker if that will save you time -- instructions below.

Now with all that said, away we go!

Ingredients

For the marinade

• 500g of diced brisket or chuck (lamb shoulder if using lamb)

• 2 tsp salt

• 2 tbs vinegar

• 1 tsp tumeric

• 3 tsp chili powder

• 3 tsp black pepper

• 3 tsp white pepper (optional, but fantastic if you have it!)

For the curry

• 1 small red onion finely chopped

• 1 stick of lemongrass, halved and bruised

• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed

• 1 inch piece of ginger, crushed

• 4 large tomatoes finely chopped or 1 cup of diced canned tomatoes/pasta sauce

• 2 green chilies sliced

• 1 sprig of curry leaves

• 1 piece of outer bark Sri Lankan cinnamon

• 5 cardamon pods

• 4 cloves

• 1/8 tsp fenugreek seeds

• 2 tbs chili powder

• 1 tbs dark roasted curry powder

• 1 tbs unroasted curry powder

• 1 tbs sugar

• 1/4 cup coconut milk

• Oil

Method

Mix in all the marinade ingredients and leave overnightl, 4 hours minimum.

Prep all the ingredients for the curry. Bring up a heavy bottom pan to temperature. Add enough oil to coat the entirety of the bottom of the pan very well.

Start searing off the beef in 2-3 batches. Pop the beef one piece at a time into the pan a about 10 pieces in one lot, and turn them over once after 1 minute. Give the beef 1 more minute and remove from the pot. Allow the pan to come back up to temperate before repeating the process.

Once the searing is complete, add in 1 tbs of oil into the pot, and add in the hard aromatic spices, followed by the soft aromats except for the tomatoes/tomato paste.

Fry this off really well and add in your powdered spices. Once added, fry this off for a good 5 minutes until the spices are almost blackened.

At this stage, add in the tomatoes or the diced/jar tomato that you are using. I really do recommend using fresh tomatoes but if you can't find any, canned ones will work as well. Also add in the sugar at this stage. The most important point here is to cook the tomato down into a really nice, rich paste where the oil starts to separate from the paste. This can take about 10 minutes and be careful to keep stirring the paste the entire time.

Now add in the seared beef into the pan and combine everything together really well,

After about 5 minutes, add in enough water to just cover the beef and move the pot to a lower flame or less intense flame. Clamp on a lid and slow cook for 45-50 minutes, periodically checking the beef to ensure it hasn't burned at the bottom. Adjust salt as needed at this stage.

If you are using a pressure cooker, add in into a pressure cooker with just enough water to cover the beef and cook for 3 whistles or just until the beef is tender. Then transfer the beef back into a cooking pot and finish through the rest of the process.

After 45 minutes, check the beef to see if it's tender. You can do this by taking a spoon to see how easily the beef pieces break apart. If they retain the shape but still fall apart at a spoon, the beef is cooked. If it's not soft enough, clamp the lid back on and allow 10 more minutes of cooking.

Finish with the thick coconut milk and reduce and thicken the gravy (about 5-10 minutes). Be very gentle when stirring the curry at this stage. The curry is ready to go when the oil starts to separate at the top.

Serve warm with rice, string hoppers, pittu or milk rice! I actually used the leftover beef curry mixed with some boiled potato to make beef buns!

And so there it is! It has been a pleasure cooking this recipe and sharing this with all of you and I cannot wait to see what you come up with! This beef curry will last in the fridge up to 6 days (provided that you have bought a good quality beef) and can be frozen up to 2 months!

Sav xx