Beef chilly fry with pan fried potatoes

This dish was a happy accident. I had set out to make something else but due to some reasons, ended up making this. It was an instant hit, you can have this with chappatis or bread, in a sandwich or wrap, or with dal and rice, irrespective of what you pair it with, it tastes heavenly.

The best thing about this recipe is you can tinker around with the spices and sauces. Add or delete as long as you have the basic ingredients in place. You can create this dish to suit your palate and preference.

Ingredients:

1. Beef - 1/2 kg 
2. Garlic - 4 cloves, finely chopped
3. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, finely chopped
4. Green chilly - 2 nos, roughly chopped
5. Onion - 1 large, sliced
6. Tomato - 1 large, sliced
7. Worcester sauce - 1/2 tbsp
8. Soy sauce - 1 tsp
9. Red chilly sauce - 1 tsp (optional)
10. Salt as required
11. Oil as required
12. Coriander leaves - for garnish
13. Potatoes - 2 nos, cut lengthwise

Powdered spices

1. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
2. Pepper - 1/2 tsp
3. Red chilly - 1/2 tsp
4. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:

1. Cut the beef into half inch tips, wash and set aside.
2. Add all the powdered spices to the beef tips and mix well. You could do this, before chopping the other ingredients for the dish. Set aside.
3. In a pan, heat oil, add the ginger, garlic, green chilly and onions. Fry till the onion is softened.
4. Add the tomatoes, salt and the beef. Mix well, bring it to a boil and then let it cook on low flame till the beef is cooked.
5. Add about one cup of water as required to ensure the contents don't stick to the pan and the beef is cooked. This could take about 30 minutes depending on how tough or tender the meat is. Please use your discretion.
6. This is a dry dish with with very thick sauce, so don't add too much water.
7. Lastly, add the sauces, check for taste and consistency, put off the flame.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves.

For the potatoes:

1. In a pan add 1 cup water and salt, bring it to a boil, add the potatoes and cook till 3/4th done. 
2. If the water has not evaporated while cooking , drain the water, drizzle little oil so the potatoes are coated and pan fry till done.

Beef Curry (Kerala Style)

This is my first post this year. And the last time I posted was over six months ago. A lot has happened in those six months. Phew! I did move cities. And in the new city - Cebu, I moved twice. So there has been a lot going on. Including a month and a half in Mumbai. :-) So last year was a lot of travelling, hopefully this year we will travel for leisure. Well that is one of my goals anyway. To travel and explore Philippines. It is a beautiful country with gorgeous beaches, awesome food choices and friendly people. What more could a traveler ask for. So here's hoping that I make my goal a reality. And let's say amen to that.

Now coming back to the recipe below, which by the way has no connection whatsoever to my ramblings above, is one of my all time favorites. Of all the recipes that have been sitting in my drafts for ages, I was surprised to see this one, wondering why its hasn't been posted yet. This dish makes a fairly regular appearance in my elder sister's (Anita) home. And obviously if I am visiting is a part of the menu for one of the meals. Anita learnt this recipe from her elder sister-in-law Leena chechi many moons ago. What I particularly like about this preparation is the number of spices that come together to create this delightful spicy curry. As always, please use the number of chillies, cinnamon and peppercorns as per your spice tolerance. You may also use your discretion in using ginger and garlic. This dish is fiery hot if prepared with the exact measurements given below. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1. Beef - 1 kg (cubed into 1 inch pieces)
2. Oil - 3 -4 tbsp (as required)
3. Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
4. Curry leaves - 3 sprigs (roughly 25 leaves)
5. Onions - 3 big sized (roughly chopped)
6. Green chilly - 4 nos ( roughly chopped)
7. Garlic - 25 flakes (finely chopped)
8. Ginger - 2 and 1/2 inch piece (finely chopped)
9. Red Chilly powder - 1and 1/2 tsp
10. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
11. Coriander powder - 2 and 1/2 tbsp
12. Bay leaves - 3 nos
13. Vinegar - 1 and 1/2 tbsp
14. Methi (fenugreek) seeds - 1/4 tsp (roasted and ground)
15. Coconut - 1 and 1/2 cup (thinly sliced into 1/2 inch bits)

Spice Mix coarsely ground:

1. Cinnamon - 7 one inch sticks
2. Cloves - 6 nos
3. Cardamom - 6 nos
4. Cumin - 1 tsp
5. Aniseed (Saunf) - 1 tsp
6. Peppercorns - 10 nos

Method:

1. Wash and drain the meat. Apply salt and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, when they stop spluttering, add the curry leaves, onions and green chilies. Fry till the onion becomes brown.
3. Add the chopped ginger and garlic, and continue frying for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the ground spice mix, the powders, bay leaves, meat and vinegar. Mix well.
5. Cook till the meat is done. This should take about twenty to thirty minutes depending on how tender the meat is.
6. While the meat is cooking, fry the coconut bits in oil till they change the color. Add a pinch of turmeric powder to this. Keep this aside.
7. Dry roast the methi seeds and and powder it. You can use a rolling pin or a mortar and pestle to do this.
8. When the meat is cooked, adjust the consistency of the curry. It should ideally be a thick gravy. Add the fried coconut and methi powder. Mix well. Put off the flame after about two minutes.

This curry goes well with steamed rice, appams and dosas.

Beef mince in vindaloo sauce

Ground meat is extremely versatile. You can cook them in different sauces, make pies, cutlets, meat balls and the possibilities are endless. Minced meat with pau (bread) or pulao is much looked forward to meal at home. We used to eat a lot of ground beef, however, we have started cutting down on our red meat consumption in the recent past. Since we bought ground beef after a long time, I didn't want to cook it in my regular style. After skimming through many sites, I found today's recipe on a facebook page dedicated to East Indian recipes. I love this FB page as it has some awesome collection of authentic East Indian fare.

The original recipe calls for more spices, and onions. I have made quite a few changes to the original recipe by adding and subtracting ingredients and introducing new ones too. I guess, that's a trick any cook worth their salt learns over time. The dish looks deliciously red, and goes well with pau or bread rolls.

Ingredients:

1. Beef mince (ground beef) - 1/2 kg
2. Onions - 1/2 kg
3. Oil - as required
4. Tomato ketchup - 2 tbsp
5. Potatoes - 2 nos (optional)

Vindaloo masala: * See notes

1. Kashmiri chilly - 8 nos
2. Cumin (jeera) - 1 tsp
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Garlic - 10 flakes
5. Ginger - 1 inch piece
6. Vinegar - 2 - 3 tbsp

Method:

1. Chop onions. Wash and drain the mince to remove excess water. Cut potatoes in two inch cubes.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add the onions and fry well. When the onions have started turning light brown add the vindaloo masala. Fry the masala well by stirring constantly for about a minute or two.
3. Add the minced meat, and potatoes, mix the contents of the pan well. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan.
4. Let it cook on slow flame till done. This should take about 20 minutes. Stir in the tomato ketchup a minute before you take the dish off the stove.

Notes:

1. You may use any ground meat, including mutton, chicken or pork. In case your using chicken mince I recommend using fewer chillies, and garlic flakes. Chicken meat is more delicate than red meat and hence should not be cooked with the same quantities of spices as used for red meat.
2. Vindaloo masala is required to be ground in vinegar. I recommend dry grinding the red chilly, turmeric and cumin first.  Then adding garlic and ginger with vinegar. This will ensure that you don't end up using too much vinegar for grinding.  Please use your discretion in using vinegar, as too much will wreck the dish. Adding a little water while grinding the masala is ok.
3. Adding water is optional, specially if you are not adding potatoes to the dish.

Minced meat cutlets

Cutlets are a great accompaniment to any meal. They can be had as starters by themselves or can be eaten with pao, especially as a snack before dinner. Many years ago, when I was studying in Goa, going to Miramar for cutlet pao was an exciting event and my friends and I looked forward to that trip. We also loved the choris pao, squid masala, sorpotel pao and other delicacies. Mind you these treats were sold off the cart on the street and were quite popular with the locals as well.

The recipe I share with you today is borrowed/ learnt from my MIL. Whatever I am in the kitchen today is due to her encouragement and guidance. She has taught me many things inside the kitchen and other wonderful things about life. What can I say, I’m a lucky girl!

Ingredients:

1. Mince meat (beef) – ½ kg
2. Turmeric – ½ tsp

Method to cook the mince:

1. Wash and drain the mince on the drain board.
2. Put a pan on the stove, and put the mince and the turmeric, dehydrate the mince completely.
3. Once dehydrated you could mince it further in a mixer. Keep aside.

Ingredients:

1. Onion – 1 medium (finely chopped)
2. Tomato – 1 medium (finely chopped)
3. Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
4. Coriander leaves – a few sprigs
5. Green chilly – 2 nos (finely chopped)
6. Egg – 1 no
7. Bread crumbs – as required
8. Oil – as required
9. Salt – as required

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, fry the onions, add salt, fry till translucent, add the green chillies and tomatoes, fry well, and add the ginger garlic paste.
2. Cool the above mixture and then give it a twirl in the food processor or a mixer.
3. Mix the cooked mince into it and the egg. Make small cutlets.
4. Roll in the bread crumbs and shallow fry.

**Personally I prefer to mince the meat once it has been dehydrated, but that is completely optional.

Always use chillies, oil and salt as per individual preferences and palate.
I have never used chicken mince to make cutlets but I'm told it can be substituted, so please use your discretion.

Green Meat

Green meat is an all time favorite with all at home and is quite simple to make. Another recipe that my MIL has taught me. It is cooked on most days of the week for dinner and we never get tired of eating it. The potatoes are specially mouth watering and you could reduce or increase the quantity of potatoes as you desire. It goes well with steamed rice, pulao, pao, roti.

 

The Garam Masala powder used in this dish is specifically ground at home.

 

Garam Masala powder:

1. Jeera - 1 tbsp
2. Peppercorns - 1 tbsp
3. Cinnamon - 4 inches
4. Cardamom - 6 nos
5. Cloves - 15 nos
6. Turmeric - 1/2 tbsp

Grind to a powder.

 

Ingredients:

1. Beef  - 1/2 kg
2. Onions (medium) - 1 no (sliced finely)
3. Ginger paste - 1/2 tbsp
4. Garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp
5. Garam masala pwd (mentioned above) - 1/2 tbsp
6. Green chillies - 2 nos (slit)
7. Tomatoes (medium) - 1 no(finely chopped)
8. Vinegar - 1 tbsp
9. Coriander leaves - few sprigs finely chopped

Potatoes (large) - 1 no (cubed). This is optional.

Method:

1. Wash and cut the meat into small cubes. Apply salt and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, fry sliced onions till brown. Add ginger garlic paste, fry well.
3. Add meat pieces, fry on high heat till the water evaporates.
4. Add 1tbsp of the garam masala pwd, chopped tomatoes and fry well.
5. Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Cook on slow flame till meat is half-cooked.
6. Add the potatoes and cook till both potatoes and meat are cooked.
7. Add two slit chillies, vinegar and simmer for two mins.
8. Adjust the consistency of the gravy as desired. Don't make it too watery, doesn't taste right.
9. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. (Optional)

 

Mangalorean Coconut Beef

Mangalore is located on the west coast in the state of Karnataka. Mangalorean cuisine is unmistakably influenced by the diverse communities that live there, for instance the Tulu speaking - Bunt community, the Christian community, and the Muslim community. Most dishes are prepared with coconut and I guess cooking without coconuts is unimaginable in South India.

The beef recipe mentioned below is spicy and has the delicate flavor of the coconut, giving your taste buds a delightful experience. This dish is my mum's specialty and my husband and I love it. Its best eaten with sannas (rice cake), pan pole (neer dosa), or pau.

Ingredients:

1. Beef - 1 kg
2. Onions - 2 nos
3. Garlic - 1 pod (medium)
4. Ginger - 1 inch piece
5. Tamarind - 1 small lball (soaked in warm water)
6. Vinegar - use if needed
7. Coconut - 1 medium, try and use only the white part.

Dry roast and powder the below spices:

1. Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
2. Jeera - 3/4 tsp
3. Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp
4. Cloves - 6 nos
5. Cinnamon - 1 and half inch piece
6. Kashmiri red chillies - 8 nos
7. Peppercorns - 8 nos

     8.  Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp (roast, powder and keep aside)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onions, fry well, add chopped garlic, ginger and green chillies.
2. Add the meat and tamarind extract and the powdered ingredients.
3. Mix well and let it cook. Take one whistle in the cooker and put the gas slow and cook for 20 mins. The time taken to cook beef usually varies depending on how tender the meat is. Use your judgment.
4. Once the meat is cooked, add the grated coconut and methi powder. Check for seasoning and taste. If you think you'd like dash of vinegar you may add about 1 tbsp. 
5. Give it a nice stir so that everything is mixed well and switch off the flame after about 2 mins. And coconut beef is ready to be served.