South Indian spiced beef with pink onions

Name: South Indian spiced beef with pink onions
Total time: 3 h
Ingredients: 500g of beef, any cut will do, but boneless is preferred; 1/4 tsp cumin seeds; 1/4 tsp fennel seeds; 1 cinnamon stick, 2.5cm in length; 2 cloves; 2 cardamom pods; 1 tbsp of Kashmiri chilli powder, or paprika; 1 1/4 tbsp of ground coriander; 3/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground; 1 1/2 tsp curry powder, or any meat masala (optional); 1/4 tsp turmeric powder; 1 small onion, pink, finely chopped; 1 tsp ginger paste; 1 tsp garlic paste; 1 tbsp of vinegar; salt, to taste; 2 medium onions, pink, Julienned, plus a few spoonfuls for garnish; 3 tbsp of vegetable oil; 1/2 tsp mustard seeds; 1 sprig of curry leaves

by Nisha Thomas

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Main
easy
4
3 hours

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Nisha Thomas shares a family heirloom recipe for beef slow roasted with Indian spices in a thick pink onion gravy sauce. Don't fret if you don't eat beef, simply replace with boiled eggs for an equally spicy and scrumptious treat.

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Beef Recipes

Beef, although not that popular in Indian cooking, is a favourite among the Syrian Christian community of Kerala, a state in Southern India. Beef was a regular at our Sunday family lunch sessions that would stretch well into the late evening hours. We'd all gather at my grandmother's after church eagerly looking forward to the elaborate lunch ahead, especially as she prepared all the dishes from scratch. She used to make the best beef roast, and although this recipe is very close to that one, it's definitely got that one small factor missing - all the love she poured into her dishes for her grandkids.

Traditionally the beef is not slow roasted, a pressure cooker makes this job much faster and easier. If you would rather do that, then cook the marinated meat with 1/2 cup water for around 4 to 5 whistles. If you find there is lots of water in the cooker when opened, evaporate it on high heat and continue with the remaining steps.

The pink onions I have used here are much milder than the red onions which mean they don’t need to be nicely browned for the final roasting, but just sautéed until they change colour.

That way the taste comes through, but not in a way that overpowers the dish. These onions are perfect for all those South Indian dishes that use onions in abundance and I'm glad to have found them here. For additional flavour, I sautéed some sliced onions in oil and used it to garnish the dish. It was fab.

Ingredients

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Imperial

Marinated beef

500g of beef, any cut will do, but boneless is preferred
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 cinnamon stick, 2.5cm in length
2 cloves
2 cardamom pods
1 tbsp of Kashmiri chilli powder, or paprika
1 1/4 tbsp of ground coriander
3/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 1/2 tsp curry powder, or any meat masala (optional)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 small onion, pink, finely chopped
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp of vinegar
salt, to taste

Onion sauce

2 medium onions, pink, Julienned, plus a few spoonfuls for garnish
3 tbsp of vegetable oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 sprig of curry leaves

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Method

Dice the beef into cubes, making sure you get them about the same size for even cooking. Grind together the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and all the other powders together in a spice mill to get a fine powder

Add the finely diced pink onions, ginger and garlic pastes, vinegar and salt to the ground powder and mix well

Marinate the beef with this mix and keep aside for about half an hour. Marinating is completely optional but is advised

When ready to cook, transfer the marinated meat into a heavy bottomed pan, add about 1/2 cup of water and cook covered on low-medium heat until the meat is completely cooked through. This process could take up to 1 1/2 hours

Keep checking occasionally. If you find that there is no water left in the pan, keep adding around 1/3 cup each time. Don't add too much water, because you want a semi-dry consistency (as opposed to a curry) with the masala nicely sticking on to the beef pieces

When the meat is cooked to perfection (do a taste test), and there is no water left in the pan, take it off heat and set aside

The meat freezes well at this point. Once completely cool, transfer them to resealable bags and freeze. Continue with the next step once you thaw the meat

Heat oil in a large frying pan and add the mustard seeds. Cook until they start to splutter. Add the pink onions and curry leaves and sauté on medium heat until the onion slightly changes colour - do not wait until it completely browns

Tip in the meat, scraping down the pan to ensure you get as much masala out as possible, and slow-roast the beef and onions until the meat is dark in colour

Keep stirring the meat on and off so it doesn't keep sticking to the pan, and if needed add some more oil. Serve hot with some rice and poppadums

DISCOVER MORE:

Beef Recipes

Nisha Thomas

Nisha is a freelance writer, avid food blogger and wannabe food photographer.

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