Beef Curry Recipe
By Mark Knowles
How to Make Beef Curry
This is a really easy Indian beef curry recipe. I differentiate between an Indian beef curry and a Thai or Japanese beef curry by using different spices. Plus, the indian recipes tend not to use coconut milk, at least this one does not. So - if you want to learn how to make a beef curry in just a few minutes, this is it.
It is simple because there are so few ingredients and although the cooking time is quite long (as much as four hours if you are using a cheaper cut of meat), the actual preparation time can be counted in minutes. I almost never use ready made foods and prefer to make my own spice mixtures and pastes - with one exception - Pataks Curry Paste - in this case a Madras curry paste. I don't know how they do it and have become firmly convinced that they sold some of their daughter's souls to the devil in exchange for always making the perfect curry paste, because it is almost impossible to make a homemade curry paste to rival these.
On the odd occasion I have managed it - the cost in spices was so high that I might as well have gone to the most expensive Indian restaurant in town to eat - and they would probably have been using a Pataks sauce.
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Ingredients:
For the Curry:
- 2 pounds chuck or stewing steak, cut into 2 inch cubes
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 table spoons vegetable oil
- 1 jar Patak's Madras Curry Paste
- 1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
- 1 beef stock cube
For the rice:
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 1/2 cups water
- knob of butter
- dash of salt
1 handful chopped coriander for garnish
1 bottle red wine (for the chef)
Equipment:
1 large saucepan with a lid
1 small saucepan with a lid
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Directions
That is it. Nothing else. Now - usually I like to start with a glass of wine, but - if you have opted for the stewing steak - this is going to take a long time to cook. You can use a better cut of beef, but I do not see the point. Using the cheaper meat adds to the flavor because it need to cook so long and is just as tender as any other cut if cooked slowly.
First - cut the meat into cubes and discard any gristle or tendons. Then, peel and slice the onion and crush the garlic. Add the oil to a large saucepan and turn to medium heat. Throw in the onion and garlic and cook until starting to soften - about 4-5 minutes. Add the beef and fry until brown all over. Add half the jar of Pataks Madras paste and cook for 2-3 minutes until the meat is completely covered in spices. Open and add the contents of the can of tomatoes, fill the can with water and add also. Add stock cube. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for around 4 hours.
Once the meat is finished cooking, and - you can cook it for longer, add a cup of basmati rice to one and a half cups of water with a dash of salt and a knob of butter to another, smaller saucepan. Now is a good time to open the wine. Bring the rice to a boil, cover and remove from the heat until all water is absorbed. Serve with the curry and a sprinkle of chopped coriander.
Bon Apetit.
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Comments
Thanks for sharing Mark. I'm always looking for new things to make. This looks good.
greetings from cold and damp Canada, if you have any spare sun and heat send it my way will ya.
Zsuzsy
Thanks guys. Sorry ZB - cold and wet here as well. Intermittently great, but we had snow last weekend - never happens.
Nice recipe - Pataks madras curry paste is always in my cupboard :) Like you say it's pretty hard to make a homemade paste taste the same and it costs more to make it yourself. Hooray for Pataks!
Yes - they are really hard to beat, and I have tried.
Looks awsome! Got to go check my fridge ;)
Thanks for a grat recipe without a lot of preparation.
Pataks is great! My tip. Put a small amount of the paste in with the onion at the start, and a bit more with the beef - I find it just enthuses (is that the right word?) into the ingredients better.
Either way – great taste.
Great Recipe Mark, I am going to try this Saturday, today I will be cooking pork chops....yesterday Irish Stew....and again thanks for your advise on the threads...sometimes I just write without thinking.....
LOL No worries. I like your threads - but sooner or later - some one will complain about it and ciao.......
Come to think of it Mark, the true Indian beef curry recipes tend not to use beef... ;)
LOL Now you mention it...... Perhaps I should have said "True English Indian......
And I am actually LOLing.
Hi Mark
Pataks are my favourite too! I like their Balti paste which I buy in a catering size. I'll sometimes add carrots, peas and potatoes to make the meat go further and the meal cheaper. The carrots and potatoes asborb the flavours. If I don't have a lot of time I use chicken as it doesn't need so much cooking.
Amber
This sounds great. I'll pass this on to someone who really loves curry.
We just bought some red curry last month and love it. its alittle spicey but it sure make the food taste great. http://hubpages.com/profile/Epiphany99
Great recipe ! I'll try it in Winter ! :)
Hi Mark,
Nice recipe. I'd recommend a cool pint of Guinness to go with it too
Sounds yummy! And so easy. (but I still prefer Thai curry)...Bon apetit to you too :)
Mark, your articles are superb. I'm not a big curry fan, but this looks good and I will give it a try. Thanks
BOOKMARKED!!!! I can have this dish on my much publicized diet....Yessss. Thanks Mark
I love cooking food I assemble and leave to roast. This sounds good. I'm going to make it.
I have just recently become a big curry fan ...(too many curries?)so will enjoy trying this!
Sounds so simple and divine! I agree, Pataks makes a great Madras! Last night was butter chicken, tonight will be beef curry! Thanks Mark! :)
If I ate beef, this is a great recipe! Hi Mark, just checking up on your hubs. Impressive.
Excellent crock pot recipe!
Hi there! I am in Japan and really enjoying Japanese beef curry. But it is impossible to find the spice recipe because everyone seems to use the branded curry pastes. I really like to get back to basics - can you tell me what the difference is in spices between a Japanese and an Indian Beef curry??? Thank you!
Japanese curry trends to be made with a curry pastes and is invariably sweet. Indian tends to use cumin, coriander, chilli, curry powder and is usually much hotter and brown. Last time I had a Japanese curry it was yellow.
But if you cannot buy the spices - what use is that? I would recommend experimenting with mixtures of those - you will have to use a curry power instead of the paste. The only real difference is the paste is already cooked.
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This recipe looks nice and easy to make so going to give it ago later just wondering if you can add the red wine to the curry sauce would it improve the taste anymore?! I've just started teaching myself to cook recently and love it!
I tried Pataks its all Baltz.
I tried Patakas, what a load of bull shi. it really upset my battacks
Carol the Writer 2 years ago
Did not know that Indian beef curry could be so easy to make. Thanks!