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Beef Madras Curry
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Beef Madras Curry

Rich, fiery, sweet, and spicy
Keyword Cayenne Pepper, Thai Pepper
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 1204kcal

Ingredients

For the Beef Madras curry

  • 8 fresh red bird’s eye chilies very finely chopped, seeds and all. I used the African, peri-peri variety, but Thai bird’s eyes will be just grand.
  • 2 ½ pounds beef chuck or flank, roughly cut into cut 1½-inch cubes. I strongly recommend using a piece of beef that’s got a flavor-boosting fat content of around 15%.
  • 1 can coconut milk 14-ounce / 400 ml
  • 1 pound cherry tomatoes halved
  • 3 yellow onions peeled and roughly chopped into ¼-inch dice
  • 6 cloves garlic peeled and very finely sliced
  • 1 heaped tablespoon fresh ginger root finely grated skin and all
  • 1 heaped teaspoon tamarind paste thoroughly dissolved in 4 tablespoons boiling water
  • 1 whole star anise finely ground in a pestle and mortar
  • 6 cloves finely ground in a pestle and mortar
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 heaped tablespoon ground coriander
  • 2 heaped teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 heaped teaspoons ground fenugreek
  • 1 heaped teaspoon ground fennel seeds
  • 1 heaped teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 heaped teaspoon ground sea salt
  • 6 tablespoons coconut oil the solid, cooking variety is what I used

For the garnishing condiments

  • ½ ounce fresh cilantro roughly chopped, stalks and all
  • 2 fresh limes quartered

For the rice

  • 4 cups basmati rice thoroughly rinsed but not soaked
  • 8 cups cold water
  • 1 heaped teaspoon ground sea salt for adding to the rice’s cooking water

Instructions

Cooking the Beef Madras

  • For this, you need to use a heavy-bottomed pan – with a good lid - that’s easily big enough to hold all your curry’s ingredients. I used a cast-iron Dutch oven.
  • The first step is to fry a couple of batches of the chunky cubes of beef to give them a darkish golden color, and to melt down most of the beef’s fat.
  • So, set your big pan on high heat and add the coconut oil. As soon as it starts shimmering – but not smoking – add a batch of the beef in a single, evenly spaced layer. You want there to be a gap of about 1/3-inch between the cubes so that they’ll start to fry in that sizzling hot oil. If you crowd the beef tightly together in the pan, it will tend to boil in its own juices, rather than fry and pick up that dark golden color.
  • Let the first batch fry on its high heat for 90 seconds, and then turn the pieces so they can all fry in that sizzling-hot oil for another. Good. Use a slotted spoon to remove the beef and set it aside on a plate. Try to leave as much of the fatty oil in the pan as you can, and then repeat this goldening process with your next batch of beef.
  • Drop your big pan’s heat to medium-high and quickly stir the onions into the hot, nicely fatted oil. Fry the onions with a few stirs for 5 minutes on that medium-high heat. You want the edges of the onion to darken a little, and as soon as that happens, drop the heat to low-medium, and stir in the chilis, garlic, and ginger.
  • Let it all fry with the occasional stir for 3 minutes on that low-medium heat, and then stir in the star anise, cloves, cayenne pepper, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, fennel, black pepper, and salt.
  • If you feel that the mix seems a little too dry, add another tablespoon coconut oil, and fry the whole spicy mixture over low-medium for another 5 minutes.
  • Now stir in the tomatoes, the tamarind paste, and its dissolving water. Turn the heat to medium and stir in the tomatoes. Let the pan come up to a barely bubbling boil and stir in the beef together with all the juices from the plate it’s been sitting on.
  • Stir in the coconut milk, and when the pan begins to simmer, cover it and drop the heat to low. You now want your curry to cook – slowly and covered – for 2 ½ hours at a very gentle simmer. Give it a few good stirs as it cooks, and make sure it keeps cooking at that slow, gentle simmer – by adjusting the heat accordingly, if necessary.

Cooking the white basmati rice

  • You want start on the rice about 15 minutes before the curry finishes its 2 ½ hours’ slow simmer. That means you can serve your curry and your rice piping hot at the same time
  • Give the rice a quick but thorough rinsing in a sieve under cold running water.
  • Now add the rice, water, and salt to a medium-size saucepan, and set it on a high heat. As soon as it comes the boil, drop the heat to low, and cover the pan with its lid.
  • Keep the lid on, and let the pan slowly simmer on that low heat for 10 minutes until all the water has been absorbed by the rice.
  • Now turn off the heat, give the rice a stir or two with a fork, and let it sit, steamily hot, under its lid for 5 minutes. That’s it, the rice is done ready for serving in a good-looking, warmed dish.

Notes

Serving
I like the idea of letting folks help themselves to the Beef Madras straight from its cooking pot once it’s been proudly set on the table. The same goes for the rice and the limes and fresh cilantro - which I serve next to one another on the same plate.

Nutrition

Calories: 1204kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 64g | Fat: 78g | Saturated Fat: 53g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 196mg | Sodium: 486mg | Potassium: 1761mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1138IU | Vitamin C: 62mg | Calcium: 165mg | Iron: 10mg