I do apologize for being an absent chef the past couple weeks. As mentioned in my last post we were off to Trinidad and Tobago for my sister’s wedding and for a short vacation. And though I had all intention to cook and blog while we were there, there was so much to see and do that I got side tracked. Plus, the MAC computer I had access to, didn’t allow for me to upload my pics via a card reader and I totally forgot to pack my firewire to connect the camera directly.
Curry beef is not something we grew up on, actually the first time I ever tasted curry beef was when I lived with my aunt after first moving to Canada. To date I can probably count the number of times I’ve had curry beef. Not as if I don’t like it, it’s just that I grew up with a taste for stew beef. Looks like I may have to cook this more often as both Indy and Tehya both enjoyed dinner tonight.
You’ll Need…
1 1/2 lbs cubed beef
3/4 teaspoon salt
dash of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon roasted Geera (powder)
2 table spoon curry powder (madras)
1 onion separated (1/2s) – diced
2-3 cloves of garlic – crushed/chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water
2 cups water
1 tomato diced
1 tablespoon green seasoning
2 leaves of shado beni (shandon beni)
1 teaspoon ketchup
1/4 hot pepper (I use habanero) Don’t include seeds if you’re afraid of some heat.
1 lime or lemon (juice) to wash the cubed beef before seasoning
Tip: If you don’t have the green seasoning, simply use 1 scallion chopped, a pimento pepper if you have access to one, 1 table spoon thyme, 1 table spoon celery chopped fine, 2 tablespoons cilantro. NOTE: If doing this recipe gluten free, be sure to read the label of the curry powder you plan on using to ensure it meets with your specific gluten free diet. Some curry powder contains flour as a filler.
Start by cutting the beef into 1 inch cubes and then pour the lime or lemon juice over it and rinse with running water. Squeeze off all excess water then season with the… tomato, salt, black pepper, green seasoning, 1/2 of the onion, ketchup, shando beni and roasted geera. Stir well and allow to marinate for about 1 hour.
In a heavy pot, heat the oil on medium to high heat (in the pic I’m using the new iron pot I purchased on my trip.. notice how shiny it is?), then add the remaining onion, garlic and pieces of hot pepper. Allow this to cook for a couple minutes. In the meantime, in a small bowl put the curry powder and add 2 table spoons of water. Stir to form a paste. Then add this paste to the semi cooked onion / garlic and allow this to cook for a few minutes.
Now that the curry is cooked a bit, start adding the seasoned pieces of beef and give it a good stir. Bring it to a boil, then cover and turn down the heat to low. You will notice that a lot of natural liquid will form. That’s ok, we’ll use those wonderful juices in the first step of cooking. After you’ve emptied the bowl with the seasoned beef, pour in the 2 cups of water into it and try to pick up all the remaining bits of seasoning… we’ll use this later on.
Allow this to cook for about 25 minutes covered, then remove the cover and turn the heat back up to high. we want to burn off all the liquid that was released. Stir so it doesn’t burn and when you can see the pot’s bottom dry, add the 2 cups of water we prepared earlier in the bowl that had the seasoned beef. Stir, bring to a boil and reduce the heat back to low. I like my curry beef very tender, so I usually allow it to cook for about another 40 minutes or so.
After the 40 minutes or so feel free to check for salt (you may need to add more if you like a lot of salt) and bring the gravy to a thickness you like. if you find that it’s still a bit runny, turn up the heat to allow it to thicken. TIP. If you’d like you can add a couple cubed potatoes the final 25 minutes, but you may need to add a little more salt. Makes for a great curry potato and beef, the kind you’d find when you purchase a beef roti.
There you go, a simple and tasty curry beef that’s great on rice or as a side for roti… or to enjoyed as you please. Remember to leave me your comments below.
Based on 23 Review(s)
1/4 teaspoon ketchup??!!??
BEST recipe ever 🙂
I use chuck, but love fall-apart meat, so I let it boil on low heat for two hours, after burning off the original liquid 🙂
Keep em coming Chris!!
So tasty thank you for posting this!
Great recipe,Chris. Thanks for sharing. We do a lot of curry here in SVG. I love trying new dishes.
I’ll make this delish.
I just love all that you have all are very good need more thank you
Having lived in B’dos for 14 years I grew up eating curry. Introduced it to my kids who now cannot get enough of it and always look for it when they visit. Now all I need to make life complete are the instructions for making roti……….please.
Hi Diane, I just looked up “roti” online. There are many very similar recipes. Similar to Indian chapati’s that I used to make. Check them out, find one that you like and give it a try. Basically flour, a little oil and warm water. Have fun!
Really Good! I made this tonight and it turned out great. Defenitely, trying other recipes by Chris. Thank you.
If you do not have shadow benny, you can use cilantro which is sold every where.
Eryngium foetidum is a tropical perennial herb in the family Apiaceae. Its scientific Latin name literally translates as “foul-smelling thistle”. Common names include culantro, “cha[r]don beni”, Mexican coriander, bhandhania, and long coriander
Very nice,I will give it a try,trust me.
Hi,
I made this curry last night, I didnt have Geera so I used Cumin and I didnt have shandon beni so I had to leave it out. This was hands down the best curry I have ever tasted. I can only imagine how yummy it would have been if I had all the ingredients. Being a Canadian who loves Caribbean food I found it a lot less complicated than most recipes I have come across. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe with me.
Marilyn
Hi,
Geera and Cumin is the same ingredient. Also its ok to omit shadow benni. But you can find it now in any local Asian store
Fabulous curry Chris! I discovered this recipe because I had just received your recipe for ‘green seasoning’. My gardens are full of fresh herbs at this time of year so I made a batch, but now what do I do with it? So I searched your recipe collection until I came across this recipe. Very interesting flavours, it was a hit! The only change I made was to add a bit of allspice and cloves to the madras curry.
My Dad was born in SVG, went to the US in 1950 and Canada in 53. In those years there was never much money around. My Dad would make Curry whatever meat was leftover in the fridge. People would always show up unannounced around supper time. They just loved his food!
Hey Chris
Do enjoy Trinidad. Going down in a couple of months. My mom made curry beef a lot when I was growing up. Also I found out that lime or lemon on red meat tends to make it tougher. Try some white flour instead. Also try adding an eggplant (baigan). Thickens the gravy and taste good.
I’m going to try this today. I love to cook but never made curry beef. Will let you know how it turns out. Thank you for the wonderful recipes
Thanks for this wonderful recipe, we ended up licking the serving dish
Have not had curry beef in years and I love it so I am going to make this for supper tonite!! Thanks for the recipe Chris!! Enjoy them all!!
Thank you for the email. I brought ingredients today and made this. DELICIOUS, lovely tasty curry 100%
When I put the meat in the pot I usually add one diced melongene. This thickens up the sauce and at the same time gives it a great flavour.
Happy New Year,
Just wanted to take the time to thank you for all your posts, emails and the videos. I enjoy watching your videos as it reminds me so much of my mom cooking. When she was alive I never really took time to learn to cook some of my Trini food I grew up with; so I look forward to your videos to get me into the kitchen and to keep my heritage and my mom close to me by cooking the food she loved and what I grew up eating. So thank you and keep the videos and posts coming..
Hi, I am British, but born in Barbados and lived in Guyana when I was a child. I made this for my 40th party with roti and now it’s a favourite at home.
Thanks
I some times add a little coconut milk, gives it that special flavor. You know I may live in CA but I am a Trini girl thru and thru
Hello, Chris I am from Uganda though I was born and raised in Kenya (both countries are in East Africa) and this more or less how we cook beef. I love your recipes and love the fact that the recipes have ingredients that are readily available in Africa. I am glad I decided to be part of Caribbean Pot.
Tried this for the first time…and Mmmmmmmmmmm! We really really enjoyed it! Thanks.
It came out great….thanks
I am making it right now. It smells awesome, just like my Gramms used to make when I was a little girl.
What is the best cut of beef for this receipe?
What is the best cut of beef to use?
Came out really great…went down well with a roti skin …
A happy New Year to you Chris. This recipe of curry beef looks great. I have never tasted it either. Will try one of these days.
Hi, thanks you so much, this dish is so delicious! May I know how many people could this recipe serve? I am gonna to cook it for around ten people.
Chris, thank you so much for this recipe! My friend's wife, from Guyana, used to make this for us when we lived in Brooklyn, so my husband and I love it. We made your recipe last night for some guests, expecting to have leftovers, but we finished it. So what did we do? Decided to make another batch today! Happy holidays!
Amazing Chris. Your recipes are not only delicious but so easy to follow. I am a visual learner so this is just excellent and right up my alley. Thank you for all your time and effort in putting all this out there for us to enjoy. Oh and my family thanks you too!
Maria
Great Chris.I get all sorts of different ways to cook curry dishes but this looks the best with geera etc.
my mouth watering!!My Mom always told me if you see chicken or beef curry,stay away it eh Trini,lol..She always say curry come first,curry beef etc…lol
I go to Mississauga for all my caribbean seasonings ..So meh business fix.
Thanks again ….
Hey Chris I would like to know what kind of pots can I use??? Like the names. I live in NYC & I would love to make these dishes but I don't have the porper pots can you help me?? Thanks
This recipe is wonderful! My husband (married 5 months now!) is Guyanese and I love learning how to cook dishes he grew up with. His parents taught me the basics of cooking Curry but they weren't the best at really explaining it along the way because it's so natural for them so when I found myself on my own I felt a little lost. It took me a while to find a recipe that sounded right with what I've seen them do so this REALLY helped me lock in all of the steps and get it just right all by myself. My husband loved it and my in-laws would be so proud 🙂
Thank you!
I tried this recipe for the first time last weekend, and I must say that this was the best curry beef I ever made.
Extremely tasty.
Thanks again Chris for these yummy recipes.
Keep them coming 🙂
so glad it turned out great for you. thanks for coming back and sharing your comments.
hi chris glad to see that you did get that good ole ironpot, remember i had suggested that some time back, i hope you made a trip to high st, in sanfernando, and checked out D>PMaraj’s store for the best quality iron pots ,keep cooking unfortunately i don’t eat beef, being red meat and all the other negative stuff about it that has been floating around, but all the beef eaters out there, enjoy your curry beef i guess it will taste great, do take care and i’m sure you had a whale of a time in good ole T’dad bye for now.
Yes, I did visit that store on High Street – funny enough it still has the same smell I remember from 20 yrs ago. Do keep in touch. Stay well.
Chris
Stew, I’m very happy yo hear that you not only liked the finished product, but you found the recipe/instructions easy to follow.
Nyla, good luck. Do let me know how it turns out and if I can assist with anything.
happy cooking
.-= Chris De La Rosa´s last blog ..El Yucateco Salsa Picante De Chile Habanero Green Hot Sauce Review. =-.
I live in Austin, Texas and am a transplant from Houston. Coming from a place abundant with trini places to eat, and ending up in a town with almost no Caribbean influence, I have been forced to cook for myself. Thank you for making things easy for me now. Here I go to try this today. Wish me luck!
I just made this and man was it amazing. It was my first time making Curry beef (or curry anything). I usually go to a place downtown to get roti’s but not this time. I just let the gravy get thick at the end and I added the potatos and then put it on a roti. Thanks for the straight forward instructions. Much appreciated!
John, I’m very happy that you love the effort I’m making. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
happy cooking
chris
.-= Chris De La Rosa´s last blog ..Children’s Shoes Recalled by C & J Clark America. =-.
This seems to be a very tasty dish. I can’t wait to try it out. The video is also very good, and I’ll be able to follow through with the preparation.I’ll keep you posted.
Thanks for this one.