Thread: Easy Peasy one pot beef & tomato curry

Very nice NR. The ingredients can all be bought in Thailand. You've pretty much got a Tikka Masala but just substituted Tumeric for Paprika and used Coconut Milk.

Going to Makro later, if they have any decent beef then I'll give this a whirl.

This looks great. I agree about using a fatty cut, as long as the fat and sinew (which is collagen) is within the meat, rather than simply attached to it. In fact, if you tried this recipe with a leaner cut of meat, it would be tasteless after such long, slow cooking as all the flavour will have leeched out.

The recipe reminded me of a Malaysian favourite, beef rendang, which is another long, slow one-pot delight. It tastes even better the next day. I omit the toasted coconut cos it's surprisingly hard to find the right kind of coconut in Thailand! Here's a recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound boneless beef short ribs (cut into cubes)
5 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cinnamon stick (about 2-inch long)
3 cloves
3 star anise
3 cardamom pods
1 lemongrass (cut into 4-inch length and pounded)
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 cup water
2 teaspoons tamarind pulp (soaked in some warm water for the juice and discard the seeds )
6 kaffir lime leaves (very finely sliced)
6 tablespoons kerisik (toasted coconut)
1 tablespoon sugar/palm sugar or to taste
Salt to taste

Spice Paste:

5 shallots
1 inch galangal
3 lemongrass (white part only)
5 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
10-12 dried chilies (soaked in warm water and seeded)

Method:

Chop the spice paste ingredients and then blend it in a food processor until fine.
Heat the oil in a stew pot, add the spice paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and cardamom and stir-fry them until aromatic.
Add the beef and the pounded lemongrass and stir for 1 minute.
Add the coconut milk, tamarind juice, water, and simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently until the meat is almost cooked.
Add the kaffir lime leaves, kerisik (toasted coconut), sugar/palm sugar, stirring to blend well with the meat.
Lower the heat to low, cover the lid, and simmer for 1 – 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is really tender and the gravy has dried up.
Add salt to taste. If not sweet enough, add more sugar to taste.
Serve immediately with steamed rice and save some for overnight.

For those of us in LOS - look for Thai-French beef (often just marked as "TF").

This comes from a Royal Project with French donated Limosin and Charolais beef which have been cross-bred.
It is quite available in most farang marts.
Great for chuck (stews, curries) and round (ground for hamburgers, spag bol sauce etc).
Cheaper than imported beef (you usually wont see these cuts imported) but not far off in quality.

Much better than trying to turn Thai beef mushy with pineapple or papaya marinades - just a few baht more.

Originally Posted by Evilbaz

For those of us in LOS - look for Thai-French beef (often just marked as "TF").

And they seem to charge the same price for cheap cuts as the best cuts unfortunately. Chuck steak is well overpriced (560B a kilo if I remember correctly).

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

only eat 100% lean

And so between 2 of you you lick the platter clean?

yum yum, a nice naan with it and bingo!!

^ Paratha would be better although nothing like a good nun