Peppery Beef and Potato curry

In picture :- Beef and Potato curry

I have been meaning to post this recipe for a week, but the Topsy turvey me had a crazy, fun filled week which did not even give me a chance to sign in to my space.You have no idea how many guests we had from last Monday till yesterday, starting from relatives to friends, but to be honest  we enjoyed each and every moment spent with them. The late night dinners, the endless walks through the city, the sleepless nights in casinos........Wah!! Remember i told you i had a very bad cold, which was taking away all my good spirits and left me as "Paradise Lost". I wanted a resurrection, and had to cheer me up to welcome all these guests. Pepper is always a panacea for me and Ta da .. I made this Peppery Beef and Potato curry to pep me up.YES !!! Food gives me a lot of pepping. Trust me it cured me well and here I am as "Paradise Regained".

My vegetable garden is in the process of embracing the fall and giving me the last of it good deeds. Thought I will share a picture today of my teen-y tin-y plump-y Red-y cherr-y tomatoes and Thai red chiles.

Back to the pepper beef affair, I had some extra uncooked  Beef from my Slow cooked beef stew ( recipe coming soon), which was not enough to make a big good batch of beef curry, so I did add some potato to increase the quantity, just like our mom's do , especially when they have some unexpected guests for dinner. It was fabulously delicious. The fragrant aroma of this beef curry stimulates the appetite and the kick of pepper takes away all the  illness. I had it with some aromatic white rice and yogurt salad topped with my cherry tomatoes and it truly made an exotic spin to my meal.

Recipe for  Peppery Beef and Potato curry

In picture :- Beef and Potato curry

Ingredients:-

For marinating Beef

Beef - 1 lb

Chili powder - 1to 1.5 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Garlic crushed - 2 cloves

Salt to taste

For making curry

Onion chopped - 2 medium

Potato - 2 medium

Garlic - 4 cloves

Ginger - a small piece

Green chili - 2

Chili powder - 1 to 1.5 tsp

Coriander powder - 1.5 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Crushed peppercorns - 1 tsp

Tomato - 1 

Star anise - 4

Cinnamon - 1

Cloves - 4

Thin coconut milk - 1 cup

Salt to taste

Curry leaves

Method:-

Clean the Meat and marinate with all the ingredients in the marinate section and keep aside for 20-45 minutes. Pressure cook it for 3-4 whistles.

Crush ginger , garlic and green chiles in a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add chopped onions. Saute for 7-8 minutes and add the crushed ginger garlic and green chili.

Add chili, coriander and turmeric powder and fry for 2-3 minutes or still it is aromatic. 

Add chopped tomato and cooked Beef along with cooking liquid if any.

Add peeled and cubed potato combine it well 

Add 1 cup thin coconut milk and 1/2 cup of water and cook it covered for 20-30 minutes or till the potatoes are tender to fork.

Add crushed Peppercorns and crushed star anise,cloves, cinnamon stick and curry leaves and simmer for another 5-8 minutes. Serve warm.

In picture :- Beef and Potato curry

Notes:-

--For a more aromatic version of this curry toast or fry chili, turmeric and coriander powders with out adding any oil in a non stick pan for 2-3 minutes in a low flame and use it.

--You can always add store bought meat masala instead of chili, coriander and turmeric powders. Even i use store bought eastern or Ann's meat masala to make a quick beef or chicken curry.

--Instead of chopping onions and crushing ginger and garlic, use a food processor to do all this together. Peel and cut onion into 2 or 4 pieces , peel garlic and ginger and put all this into food processor and pulse it 3-4 times for a second or two each. You don't have to cry every time you make some curry with all this.

--To make a cup of thin coconut milk using the store bought canned coconut milk, take 1/4 cup of  canned coconut milk in a measuring cup and add water to make a cup . To make thick coconut milk use 50-50 mix of water and coconut milk.

--Instead of regular tomatoes, I used 5-6 cherry tomatoes from my garden and worked out good. But cherry tomatoes gives you the best when used in a salad.
Cheers

Sarah