Kerala Beef Fry

Spiced beef simmered until tender, then fried in coconut oil with curry leaves until crisp at the edges.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 2h 10m
Total: 2 hours 30 minutes
Vegetarian
❌
Nuts
❌
Serves
4 people
Difficulty
Easy

Ingredients

  • 1kg beef braising steak, cut into 3cm pieces
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp fresh root ginger and garlic paste
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 400ml water
  • 5 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 onions, finely sliced
  • 3 green chillies, slit lengthways
  • 15 fresh curry leaves
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method

  1. Put the beef in a heavy pan with the turmeric, chilli powder, coriander, black pepper, ginger and garlic paste, salt and water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer on a low heat for 1 hour 30 minutes until tender.

  2. Uncover and boil until the liquid has almost gone, leaving the beef just moist. Lift the beef out and keep the pan juices.

  3. Heat the coconut oil in a wide frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the beef in two batches for 8 to 10 minutes each until browned and crisp at the edges. Remove.

  4. In the same pan, fry the onions, green chillies and half the curry leaves for 8 minutes until browned.

  5. Return the beef with the pan juices, add the garam masala and stir-fry for 3 minutes until dry. Add the remaining curry leaves and the lemon juice and serve hot.