GORGE

You have probably noticed by now that I love curry, in fact anything with the 3 amigos!(chilli, garlic and ginger). That may be why I get so enraged when I go to chain pubs for food and see the same old crap served with chips everytime! Hunters chicken anyone?? NO THANKS.

After a week away and having to eat that muck I was itching to get back in my kitchen and make something tasty and picked up some ” whoops” beef chunks for £1.50 on my way home.

I looked up a few recipes but then just decided to use the knowledge I already have about curry making to see what I could come up with myself and if I do say so myself this was bloody tasty and I can’t wait for the leftovers as second day curry is even better.

I use a cast iron pot for this that I can just pop in the oven when its prepared. If you dont have one just use a frying pan and then transfer to an ovenproof dish.

Ingredients

Serves 4

1 large pack of beef chunks.
3 onions – 2 diced, one whole.
4 cloves of Garlic, 2 crushed, 2 whole.
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1 green chilli chopped.
1tsp Cumin Seeds
1tsp Corriander seeds
2 Cardamon pods
1 tsp Garam Masala
1tsp Tumeric
2tsp Curry powder
1tsp Ground Fenugreek
1 inch of Cinnamon bark
2 dried red chillis
2 tbsp Tomato puree
1 seasoning cube (I use Magi)
150ml tin of coconut cream
A splash of white wine vinegar
Salt
Knob of Butter

As always if you want it hotter/milder adjust the amount of chilli.

First of all heat some cooking oil in a frying pan ( I use rapeseed mostly but you can use ghee for the best results) and brown the beef chucks on all sides then set aside.

In a cast iron pot heat a little oil and add the cumin seeds, corriander seeds, cardamon, cinnamon and dried chillis and fry gently for a minute before adding the diced onions. Fry these gently until getting soft then add the ginger, 2 crushed cloves of garlic and chopped chilli and fry for a few more minutes.

Add the garam massala, tumeric, curry powder, 1 tsp salt and ground fenugreek with a splash of water to make a paste and cook gently for a minute before adding the tomato puree and seasoning cube. Add the coconut cream and mix well.

Blend the remaining onion and 2 cloves of garlic with 1/2 pint of water until it is a watery paste and add this to the pan.

Bring up to the boil then put the beef back in and put in the oven at 140 degrees for around 2 hours. Just keep checking until the meat is soft and the sauce is thick. If the sauce gets too thick too early just add water.

When done, check the taste and if it is not tangy enough add a splash of white wine vinegar and stir through a knob of butter and add more salt if needed. You can even add a little sprinkle of garam massala at this stage to add more flavour. Pick out the cinnamon and dried chillis before serving.

Serve with basmati rice.