Indian do not eat beef – take that information and throw it out along with the garbage! Some Indians do eat beef while the vast majority does not. Kerala Beef Fry is a classic South Indian dish made with a few simple spices, coconut slices, and curry leaves. It’s pressure cooked then lightly fried in coconut oil.
Ingredients
- Beef (chuck roast), 2lb, 3/4″ cubed
- Coconut Oil, 3 tbsp it ain’t called beef “fry” for nothing
- Shallots (6) or Red Onion (2), thinly sliced
- Garlic Cloves, 3, minced
- Curry Leaves, 1 sprig
Marinade
- Red Onion, 1, diced
- Green Chili, 2, diced
- Ginger, 2″, minced
- Garlic Cloves, 8, minced
- Coconut Slices, 1/2 cup, (fresh or frozen)
- Curry Leaves, 1 sprig
- Salt, 1-2 tbsp
- Meat Masala*, 1 tbsp
- Coriander Powder, 2 tbsp
- Red Chili Powder, 1 tbsp
- Turmeric Powder, 1 tsp
How to Make Meat Masala
- Green Cardamom, 1/4 cup
- Fennel Seeds, 1/3 cup
- Cloves, 1 tbsp
- Cumin Seeds, 1 tbsp
- Cinnamon Stick, 2
- Dry Red Chilis, 8
Instructions
Make the meat masala.
- In a small saute pan on medium-low heat, add all of the spices. Toast the spices just until warm and you can smell the aroma of the spices. Once the spices cool down, add the spices in a small spice grinder or blender. Grind until a slightly coarse powder forms. Store in an air-tight container.
Marinate the beef.
- In a large bowl or in the pot of your pressure cooker, add all of the ingredients under the marinade section, then mix together.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
Cook the beef.
- After the beef is marinated, pressure cook the beef on high for 10 minutes (about 4 whistles).
- You do not need to add water to this. Moisture will naturally extract from the beef as you pressure cook it.
- Do not discard the moisture from the pressure cooked beef.
Fry the beef.
- In a wide/deep pan (or uruli) on medium high heat, add the coconut oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add in the shallots, garlic, and curry leaves
- Saute until lightly golden then add in the cooked beef along with its juices.
- Continue to stir the beef around in your pan so that it evenly fries and encourages the moisture to reduce. This usually takes 15-20 minutes.
- About halfway through, sprinkle in about 1-2 tsp of meat masala over the beef and then continue frying
- The beef is done frying when all the moisture is gone and a gravy/spice coating has formed on the beef. That’s it! Serve with some hot Kerala porotta!