Beef Curry (Malaysian Style)
For many years I've had a very over simplified opinion as to what represented and good curry and how to make one, but if you travel and work with cooks from India and Asia you soon come to realize that if you born and grew up outside Asia, then you in fact know very little about curry, it would take a lifetime to fully appreciate the complexities and the variations of curries and their ingredients. For me to offer you a curry recipe is a somewhat daunting task and there are so many variables that will contribute to how the end product will look and taste, and I have worked with some very good Indian and Malaysian cooks.(Two cultures which approach curry in very different ways regarding technique and style) One thing I have found as you sail from one part of the world to another the curry powder can change significantly regarding the flavor and the strength or heat, this can make it difficult to create a standard one size fits all recipe. However one thing I can tell you is to make a good curry you need lots of interesting flavors, Fresh curry leaves, fresh lemon grass, lime leaves and palm sugar are a bonus if you have them available, In presenting this recipe I must give gratitude to the Asian cooks I have worked with who inspired the spirit of this dish, You, just as I sometimes have to, can adjust the ingredients to what you have available, but hopefully this recipe will go some way to influencing a satisfactory the end result.
| Prep Time | 1 Hour |
| Cook Time | 5 Hours |
| Servings |
Portions
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Ingredients
- 5 kg Diced Beef
- 2 kg Onions
- 6 Green Chillies Sliced with the seeds
- 15 Cardamom Pods
- 10 Star Anise
- 100 grams Chopped Garlic
- 6 Red Chillies Sliced with the seeds
- 4 sticks Cinnamon
- 3 cups Curry Powder Medium or Hot, How much curry powder will depend on the strength and flavour of your curry powder
- 2 tbsp Cumin Powder
- 2 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 2 tbsp Cinnamon Powder
- 4 tbsp Chilli Powder
- 2 tbsp Cayenne Pepper
- 2 cups Vegetable Oil
- 8 tbsp Flour
- 2 litres Beef Stock
- 1 litre Water
- 1 tbsp Salt
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Place the oil in a large thick bottomed pot on the stove over a medium heat.
- Add the cardamom pods, star anise and cinnamon sticks and fry gently for about 10 minutes without browning.
- Add the Chilies and continue to fry until soft.
- Add the onions and continue to cook without colour for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Add the chopped garlic half way through cooking the onions.
- Eventually the onions with drop and become very soft.
- Add the dried spice powders and continue to cook slowly to extract maximum flavour from all the ingredients.
- Add the flour and stir in and cook for a few minutes, then add the beef stock and bring to the boil.
- Allow the curry sauce to simmer over a low heat or in the oven set at 150°C to 160°C for 1 hour
- After one hour remove from the oven and place on the stove on a medium heat. add the beef to the sauce. At First this seemed a totally alien thing to do, it went against all my training and experience to add raw meat to a hot sauce without frying it first, I even challenged the Malaysian cooks who I observed doing this, but the truth is the curries always came out perfect and the crew just loved them, isn’t that what we are all trying to achieve? So after adding the meat bring to a simmer and cook over a low heat or return pot to the oven set at 150°C with a lid on and cook for 4 to 5 hours, or until the meat is tender.
- When the curry is cooked remove from the oven and skim any cardamom pods and Star Anise which might be floating on the top and discard.
- Return the sauce to the stove over a medium heat and gentley stir in the the visable oil floating on top of the sauce, and correct the seasoning and consistency.
- Serve with boiled rice, mango chutney and fresh naan breads.
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