The sky is a pale shade of grey, the rain keeps falling and the temperatures have dropped leaving me curled up in a hoodie on the couch. A drastic change from the last couple of weeks warm temperatures and busy summer goings on. We celebrated both mine and my oldest daughter Eva's 2nd birthday, made a few trips to Calgary, the mountains, splashed in the pool, shopped, had visits from Papa and said goodbye to my mother-in-law as she flew back to Guatemala for another year. Life has been so fast-paced lately it's nice to have cool dreary weather to stop and breathe.
This beef curry goes great with both chilly weather and slowing down. The warm and spicy madras spices will warm you to your toes.
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Serves 4
1 lb beef stewing meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tbsp Madras curry paste (my favorite brand is Patak's)
1 28oz. can of diced tomatoes
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef, onion and garlic and saute until the onions are soft and the meat is browned. Add the curry paste and saute for a minute or so to let the flavors of the curry paste open up and then add the tomatoes. Turn down to medium-low and let the curry simmer for 45 minutes stirring occasionally. Taste and season with salt and pepper before serving. Serve over basmati rice.
Click here for printable version of Madras Beef Curry
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THE RESULTS?
This is so warming. It is a change from a curry that is rich with coconut milk or cream...this gets its richness right from the depth of spices and the beef itself. The tomatoes make an acidic sauce and the curry paste has a good punch of spice, so the rich beef stands up well to that. I don't think chicken would work in this recipe; it definitely needs a full bodied protein like beef or even lamb to stand up to and compliment the sauce.