Everyday Epicurean

Tonight I made a variant of Rogan Josh, which is an Indian dish (some might call it a curry), rich in tomatoes and beef.

We haven’t had curries in quite a while, mainly due to the youngest ones inherent dislike of “spicy” foods. I therefore made this particular curry reasonably mild. You can vary the spiciness levels by adding more or different chillies.

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h2. Ingredients.

h3. For the Curry…

* 500g rump (or other beef cut) steak
* 1 potato (this is the variant)
* 1 capsicum (bell pepper)
* 1 large onion (or two small ones)
* 4 cloves of garlic (or a quantity of asafoetida, if you have some, you’ll know how much to use)
* 1 tin of roma tomatoes (or use fresh, you’ll need 5 or 6)
* 2 Tablespoons of tomato paste
* salt
* pepper
* 2 Tablespoons of Ceylon Curry powder
* 1 teaspoon of standard curry powder
* 1 dessertspoon (half a Tablespoon) of Tamarind paste
* 1 small bunch of coriander leaves

h3. For the Rice…

* 1.5 cups of long grain rice
* 1 can (400ml) of coconut cream
* 3 quarters of a cup of water
* half a teaspoon of salt
* 5 saffron strands

h2. Method.

Dice the onion and capsicum and fry in a wok with some oil (or ghee). Add the finely chopped garlic and diced potato (1 cm cubes, no bigger).
Stir and fry then reduce the heat and cover with a lid (yes, my wok has a lid).
Dice the rump into 1.5 cm cubes. Add to the wok, increasing the heat a little and stirring until the meat is browned.
Add the curry powders, and stir through.
Now add the tomatoes, tomato paste and tamarind paste. Stir through, breaking up the tomatoes. Reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer. Stir occasionally.

I typically microwave my rice in a casserole dish (covered). To do it that way, put all the ingredients in a deep microwave safe casserole dish and microwave at 50% for 20 mins, stir with a fork, then microwave for 3 mins on high.
You could do the rice in the oven, using the same method. However it will take longer (about 40 mins) and you’ll need an extra half cup of water.

When the rice is done, the curry should also be done. Throw in the coarsely chopped coriander leaves and stir through.

Serve with a little plain yoghurt.