The Flying Ladle

Passport & Plate - Green Lane Beef Curry

Malaysia | Thursday, March 6, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
For the Garlic/ginger paste:
1 garlic bulb
1 3-inch piece ginger
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Method: Put everything in a blender or mill (not a food processor) and blend until mix becomes smooth paste.

For the Cashew Nut paste:
1/2 cup of raw cashew nuts
1 cup warm water
Method: Soak raw cashew nuts in water and cover for 30 minutes. Drain (but keep water) and process in a blender with four tablespoons of water until mix becomes paste. Add water if need be for smooth texture.

For the beef marinade:
2 tablespoon garlic/ginger paste
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
A pinch of ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon cooking oil (canola or vegetable)
A pinch of salt
Method: Mix ingredients with the beef until well coated and refrigerate for one to two hours.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilogramme/1lb/17.5oz beef, preferably sirloin or brisket, cut against the grain into bite-sized chunks
5 tablespoons vegetable oil (preferably canola)
5 cardamom pods
2 star anise
5 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 screwpine (pandan) leaf, tie into a knot
3 sprigs curry leaves
1 big red onion, thinly sliced
2 medium size ripe tomatoes, cored and chopped
4 tablespoons meat curry powder
2 tablespoons cashew nut paste
1 cup hot water
3 tablespoons coconut milk

 

How to prepare this recipe
Method:
1) Heat oil in a wok or cast iron pot.
2) Add the four spices, screwpine leaves and curry leaves and sautéed for one minute.
3) Toss in the onions and tomatoes and sautéed until soft and fragrant for about four minutes. The onions should be translucent.
4) Add the beef to the mix. Stir until well coated and cook on slow heat for 10 minutes while making sure it doesn't burn.
5) Add the meat curry powder, cashew nut paste and hot water. Boil on slow heat for 45 minutes to an hour until the meat is cooked.
6) Finally, add the coconut milk and stir. Leave for another 20 minutes and remove from heat.
7) Serve with hot rice or toasted bread. A dollop of plain yoghurt is also an excellent accompaniment to the curry.

 

The story behind this recipe
My mother, Nisha, is my inspiration when it comes to cooking up a batch of hearty curry. Whatever I know now I learnt from her.
This beef curry, for example, is a classic one with a few tweaks. Green Lane is the name of my neighbourhood where I grew up.
The recipe calls for ginger/garlic paste and cashew nut paste. Consider the ginger and garlic like the bass guitar in a band - the backbone. Without it, the band (curry) is bland and incomplete.
The cashew nuts give it that extra 'oomph' and earthiness.
In my family, the phrase "pass the beef curry" is equivalent to "please pass the salt." It's the mother of all curries on the table at weddings, family dinners and even funerals.
You know how there is always that one dish people rave about (or verbally obliterate if it's horrible) as soon as they leave the event venue? For us, it's (yes, you guessed it) the beef curry. "The meat was too hard", "Not enough salt", "So good the meat melts in your mouth"…you get the picture.
Of course, it takes a lot of patience to make a good curry from scratch but it's not as difficult as some people might imagine. What is most important is that the ingredients like meat and produce are fresh. Granted, there is quite a lot of prep work. I consider myself a curry snob but I will gladly devote my time to teach people how to make good curry.
It's not a state secret that a lot of curries contain coconut milk, which functions as a fortifier to give it that richness. Actually, up until about 20 years ago, my mother stopped using coconut milk ('santan' in Malay) because she didn't like the fattening and calorific factor. She used yoghurt or low fat milk instead.
You will notice that this recipe has coconut milk in it, but not too much. As they say, everything in moderation, and mum approves. Once all the ingredients are added and things get cooking, the curry resembles dark liquid gold and once it hits your tongue, the burst of flavours are like New Year's Eve fireworks in your mouth.