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Sunday Beef Curry

Beef – 1 kg, cut into bite size dices

For Masala
Coconut – ½ grated
Red Kashmiri chillies – 10
Coriander seed – 1 ½ tablespoon
Cumin Seeds – 1 tea spoon
Turmeric powder – ½ tea spoon
Garlic – 8 cloves
Ginger – one inch piece
Onion – one, medium sliced
Black Cardamom – one
Green Cardamom – 3
Cinnamon stick – 1 inch
Khus khus (poppy seeds) – ½ tablespoon
Cloves – 4
Tomato – 1
Pepper corns – ½ teaspoon

Oil – 3 tablespoons
Potato – two (diced)
Carrot – one ( diced)

For seasoning in the pressure cooker
Bay leaf – one
Onion finely chopped
Pepper corns – five
Salt

Method – Clean and cut the beef into bit size pieces. Put this in a large pressure cooker and add two tea spoons of salt, five pepper and bay leaf. Add water and cover the beef a bit with water. Now pressure cook. Give it one whistle and then drop the head to simmer and let it sit on the fire for half an hour to forty minutes. When cool drain the stock and remove discard the bay leaf and peppercorns. The onions should have disintegrated into the stock.

Roast individually and lightly on a hot pan (no oil) the coconut, then the red chillies, then the onion, then altogether on a low heat and for half a minute; the khus-khus, coriander, cumin, pepper corns, cinnamon, black cardamon, green cardamon and the cloves.

In a blender grind together the dry items that you have roasted (Kashmiri chillies, khus-khus, coriander, cumin, pepper corns, cinnamon, black cardamon, green cardamon and the cloves). Do this first in a blender and you will get a nice dry powder masala. Then in the same blender and to the dry ground powder masala add in the roasted coconut, roasted onion, turmeric powder, garlic and ginger and the chopped tomato. Add a glass of water or as required and grind this to a super fine paste.

Once done, in a dish add oil and fry on a low heat for two minutes the ground coconut masala. Now add the beef stock and bring this to form a nice gravy. If the stock is not enough add some water. Bring the gravy to a boil and then add the cooked beef. Depending on how well the beef is cooked, allow this to simmer on low heat for 20 minutes so that the beef marries into the curry and tastes as one. Now add the bit size diced carrots and potatoes. Check for salt. Remember your beef stock already had salt so check and add accordingly. Simmer for ten minutes more. Turn off the gas. Cover with a lid and set aside and let the vegetable continue to cook in its own heat.

Serve with steaming hot rice or  a yellow pulav