Madras beef curry

When I was 18 I worked in an Indian restaurant. It was a brief love affair, lasting a whole week! Like all love affairs, I was absolutely besotted at the beginning. I couldn’t wait till our next rendezvous. The sights and sounds in the kitchen were fascinating to me, and the smells of all the spices was almost intoxicating. But I started to see faults in my lover. So demanding, such hard work and so not my type. So we parted ways, but whilst that love affair didn’t last I never stopped loving it (the food, that is). In the past I used to make curries with the help of jars, but have vowed to make more from scratch. This is the start of hopefully more. Serves 4.

Ingredients

Madras Curry

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 shallots
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 whole large red chilli, diced
• 2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 800g diced beef
• 8 medium tomatoes, quartered
• 500ml beef stock
• Coriander, to garnish (optional)

Raita

• 200g greek yoghurt
• 1/4 cucumber, diced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander

Instructions

• Add olive oil to a large frying pan.
• Fry shallots over a low-medium heat, till browned. Approx 10 minutes.
• Increase heat to medium. Add garlic, ginger, chilli and spices. Fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring often.
• Add beef to the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes to brown.
• Add tomatoes and beef stock.
• Lower heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 2 hrs.
• Remove lid, increase heat to medium and cook for a further 30mins-1 hr, until sauce is thick. Stir regularly to prevent it catching.
• To make the raita; simply mix ingredients together in a small bowl.
• Serve with basmati rice, poppadoms and coriander. Enjoy!