My Indian Curry ©

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my favourite ‘Beef Curry.’ If you have the good fortune of having a friend traveling to the East, ask them to bring you back freshly ground ‘Curry Mix’ from the ‘Souks.’ It is the best!

This curry was created after a visit to Qatar, a few years ago and on visiting the ‘Spice Souk,’ I purchased  500 g of their ‘Curry Mix.’ I will never forget the Souk, with all its colour and fragrance and bustle of life and sealed tightly in a jar, it is still good today!

Cooking curries always involves lots of ingredients, so you need to devote your day to preparing this feast! It is well worth the effort and perfect for a special occasion!

If you have never cooked a curry before and this is especially for my young cooks, here is where to start! Do ‘all’ your shopping the day before! And choose a nice calm free day to really get into your cooking!

I had a lot of fun cooking and photographing this one!

 

 

 

 

An Indian Feast!

Here you see the two vegetarian curries, potato and aubergine, which you will find under curries. I am now adding the Beef Curry, Basmati Rice and Churri, which is a very nice cooling accompaniment.

 

 

 

Churri.

 

 

 

 

For six persons

 

 

Preparation time 1/2 hour

 

 

 

Ingredients 

1 kilo cubed fillet steak

4 medium onions finely grated

1 thumb sized piece of ginger finely grated

8 cloves of garlic chopped

8-10 green cardamons bruised

2 bay leaves

1-2 tsp cayenne

1 tsp whole cloves ( place in cotton muslin bag )

1 tsp peppercorns  ( place in cotton muslin bag )

2 tbs tomato purée

200 g Greek ‘Fage Total’ yogurt

2 tbs curry powder mix : made from powdered cumin, coriander, turmeric and cayenne pepper in equal quantities.

2-3 tbs olive oil

Salt

 

 

Method

1. Have your butcher prepare your meat into 2 cm cubes.

2. Peel and grate onions and fry in oil until transparent, 2-3 minutes.

3. Peel and chop garlic, add to onions along with your spices and fry until golden and aromatic.

4. Add your cubed meat and cook until sealed and brown all over. 5-8 minutes.

5. Dilute your tomato puree in a cup of water and add to your meat. Season.

6. Add your cloves and pepper corns, tied in a little  cotton muslin pouch and simmer for half an hour. The liquid should be mostly absorbed by the end of the cooking time, giving you a thick sauce. If it is too liquid remove the lid and simmer until liquid has reduced.

7. Remove from the heat and add the yogurt. Taste for salt before serving.

 

Basmati Rice

400 g  Basmati Rice

Enough water to come 1 cm above the level of the rice ,when placed in the saucepan.

1 level tsp salt

2 cloves, stick of cinnamon, saffron: all optional the saffron  gives the rice a pale yellow colour. Soak Saffron in a little water first.

 

 

Method

Every one has their own way of cooking Basmati rice and I find this method works well.

1. Place rice in sieve and rinse under cold running water, until the water runs clear.

2. Place in saucepan and cover with water, so that the water is about 1 cm above the  level of the rice. Add 1 tsp salt.

3. Bring to the boil and then turn heat down to the very minimum, replace lid, half on at first and leave until rice has swollen and ‘all’ the water has been absorbed, about 10 minutes.

4. When ready to serve gently ease rice out of saucepan using a ‘fork’ and fluff up rice in your serving dish.

 

Churri

1 tsp cumin seeds

10 g  fresh mint leaves

15 g coriander leaves

2 cm piece of ginger peeled and finely grated

2 green chillies, de-seeded and finely chopped

600 ml Greek ‘Fage Total’ thick yogurt

1 onion diced

Salt

sweet paprika for garnish and coriander leaves

 

 

 

Method

1. Dry roast cumin seeds until aromatic, 1-2 minutes, keeping the pan moving so they do not burn.

2. Grind seeds in spice grinder, or in pestle and mortar.

3. Chop mint, coriander, ginger and de-seeded chilli to a fine paste in blender, or by hand.

4. Add yogurt and blend until a beautiful pale green.

5 Add chopped onions and check seasoning. It does not want to be bland, so add enough salt!

6. Place in serving dish and sprinkle with sweet paprika, ( the non hot kind ) and garnish with coriander leaves.

 

Beef Curry

 

 

 

Have your butcher prepare your meat into nice small 2 cm cubes.

 

 

Prepare your finely grated onions, using the smallest holes of your grater, chop your garlic and grate your ginger. Measure out your cayenne, green cardamons (bruised) and bay leaves.

 

Measure out curry powder, in this case ‘Qatari Curry Mix.’

 

Place pepper corns and cloves on a piece of cotton tulle or cotton muslin.( Not nylon!)

 

Tie together with kitchen string.

 

Sauté onions in oil until transparent, 2-3 minutes, add chopped garlic and spices and fry until golden and aromatic, stirring all the time.

Add your cubed meat and ‘seal’ on all sides, until no pink is visible. 3-5 minutes.

 

Dilute your tomato purée in a cup of water and add to meat. Place on lid and simmer over a gentle heat until meat is tender and nearly all the liquid has been absorbed.

Attach your muslin spice bag to the handle of your saucepan, so that you can remove it easily at the end of the cooking time.

Season.

 

 

 

Final result!

You can see here how all the liquid has been absorbed and the sauce is thick. Remove from the heat, add yogurt and check seasoning, it may need more salt.

 

 

Basmati Rice

 

 

 

 

Churri

 

 

Dry roast coriander in small saucepan, tossing, so the coriander doesn’t burn. 1-2 minutes.

 

Weigh out fresh mint and coriander leaves.

 

Grind coriander in pestle and mortar.

 

…..until finely ground.

 

Chop fresh herbs in blender and add the rest of your ingredients.

 

 

Blend until pale green.

 

 

Final result!