SRI LANKAN BEEF CURRY

SERVES 4. PREP 20 MINS. COOK 2 HRS 30 MINS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large onion, roughly chopped

• 2cm piece ginger, roughly chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

• 1 long red chilli, roughly chopped

• 1 red bird’s-eye chilli, roughly chopped

• 2 tbsp ghee

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• 4 cardamom pods, cracked

• 2 tsp black mustard seeds

• 10 curry leaves

• 1 tbsp white vinegar

• 1kg beef oyster blade, cut into 2.5cm pieces

• 3 large vine-ripened tomatoes, roughly chopped

• Coriander sprigs, to serve

• Steamed basmati rice, to serve

• Roti, to serve

• Ceylon curry powder

• 1 tbsp coriander seeds

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• ½ tsp fennel seeds

• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds

• 1 cinnamon quill, crumbled

METHOD

1 To make curry powder, heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Add spices and stir for 1 minute or until fragrant. Transfer to a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.

2 Process onion, ginger, garlic and chillies in a food processor until finely chopped.

3 Heat ghee in a big saucepan over medium heat. Add onion mixture and cook, stirring frequently, for 12 minutes or until golden. Add curry powder, turmeric, cardamom, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, then stir in vinegar. Add beef and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until well coated in spice paste. Add tomatoes, 250ml, (1 cup) water and 1 tsp salt. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, cover tightly with lid, cook for 2 hours or until beef is very tender. 4 Remove lid, increase heat to medium, then simmer for a further 20 minutes or until sauce is thickened.

5 Divide curry among bowls and scatter with coriander. Serve with steamed rice and roti.