Beef Bhuna Curry
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 3 medium sized onions
  • 100ml of oil
  • 4 cardamom
  • 3 - 4 bay leaves
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • pinch of fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1kg beef (washed and drained)
  • 1.5 tsp minced ginger
  • 1.5 tsp minced garlic
  • 1.5 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp mixed curry powder (I used TRS Hot Madras Curry powder)
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (this is used to give the dish a better colour, not essential)
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • water as required
  • fresh coriander and julienne ginger slices to garnish
Method
  1. Start by washing and draining 1kg of beef, this should already be cut to size by your butcher. If the beef pieces are too large you may want to cut them into smaller pieces.
  2. Next peel and slice 3 medium sized onions.
  3. In a saucepan, gently heat 100ml of oil.
  4. Once the oil is hot, add in the whole spices - 4 cardamoms, 3 - 4 bay leaves (mine were cut in half so that's why it looks like there are more), 3 cinnamon sticks and a pinch of fenugreek seeds and fry until the aromas are released.
  5. Next add in the sliced onions and allow them to brown over a high heat, this will take between 10 - 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to stop them from burning.
  6. While the onions brown, chop 2 tomatoes into quarters.
  7. After 10 - 15 minutes, the onions should look golden brown (top right photo).
  8. After browning the onions, the beef can be added along with 1.5 tsp of minced ginger and 1.5 tsp of minced garlic.
  9. Fry the beef over a high heat till the pieces are brown on the outside (bottom left photo), again this can take up to 10 minutes. Browning the onion and beef before adding salt adds a lot of flavour to the finished dish.
  10. Once the beef pieces are brown on the outside add 1.5 tsp of salt (this can be adjusted later if needed)...
  11. followed by 2 tsp of mixed curry powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder and 1 tsp cumin powder.
  12. I forgot to add 1 tsp of turmeric powder (yes it happens, lol) but remembered in the next few steps. You may add 1 tsp of turmeric powder now.
  13. Mix the spices well and then add the chopped tomatoes.
  14. Cover the saucepan and allow the spices and tomatoes to cook over a low - medium flame, till the tomatoes are soft and mushy. At this point I realised that I forgot the turmeric powder so added 1 teaspoon (top right photo), do not add now if you have already added it.
  15. Mix the ingredients again and gently cook the beef over a slow simmer for about 1 - 1.5 hours, until the beef is tender. Depending on how large or small your beef pieces are you may need to adjust these times.
  16. When the curry begins to look dry, add water to loosen it and stop it from burning. Avoid adding too much water in one go, top up as needed.
  17. Since I wanted to speed up the cooking process, I transferred the curry to a pressure cooker and pressure cooked it for 30 minutes, I added extra water to ensure that at no point the pressure cooker would go dry. This reduced the time it took for my beef to become tender.
  18. Please read the manufacturer's instructions properly for your own model of pressure cooker to ensure that you use your cooker safely.
  19. After pressure cooking the curry, I transferred it back to the original saucepan and finished the dish off.
  20. Any masala that remains in the pressure cooker should be rinsed out with water and added back into the curry (top left photo), after all this is flavour we don't want to go to waste!
  21. Once the beef is tender, add some extra water to loosen the curry and bring to a boil one last time. How much water you add will be down to your preference - I prefer to keep the gravy quite thick so just enough water to partially submerge the ingredients is enough for me, add more water if you prefer the gravy thinner.
  22. Boil for 7 - 10 minutes and then your curry is done!
  23. Garnish your curry with fresh coriander and ginger julienne. Serve immediately with sides of your choice.
Recipe by www.afeliaskitchen.com at https://www.afeliaskitchen.com/beef-bhuna-curry/