This recipe won our recent slow-cooked reader competition. It was submitted by Bite member Caroline Longley who won an 8L Fagor Duo pressure cooker valued at $349.
The basis for the recipe, Caroline said, came from Charmaine Solomon's The Complete Asian Cookbook. She added: "I've adapted it for the slow cooker and changed the ingredients to things I find readily available from our Asian grocery shop (shout out to Lim Chour Manukau). It has minimal preparation unlike some slow cooker recipes that require pre-browning, yet turns an inexpensive cut of meat into something special. If you wish to go all-out, complete the optional frying stage in step 5 to add colour and depth, but the dish is delicious regardless."
The judges said: "We tried many delicious dishes but we kept coming back to this one. This cross between a pot roast and a curry was beautiful to eat — the meat was soft and succulent with plenty of tangy, rich sauce. It can be served more elegantly than curries containing chopped meat and makes a nice change."
Ingredients
| 2 | Onions, finely chopped |
| 1 ½ kgs | Stewing beef, in one piece (we used bolar) (Main) |
| 6 | Garlic cloves, chopped, or use 3 tsp garlic paste |
| 1 Tbsp | Grated ginger |
| 1 stick | Cinnamon |
| 10 | Curry leaves |
| 1 stalk | Lemongrass, chopped, or use 2 strips of lemon rind with no pith (use a vegetable peeler) |
| 3 Tbsp | Curry powder, use a Sri Lankan one if you have it (Main) |
| ½ tsp | Fenugreek seeds |
| ½ cup | Vinegar, a fruity type such as apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar is good |
| ¼ cup | Tamarind paste, soaked in hot water to soften and pushed through a sieve to remove seeds |
| 1 tsp | Ground turmeric |
| 2 tsp | Chilli powder, or to taste, depending on how hot the curry powder is |
| 2 tsp | Salt, or to taste |
| 500 ml | Thin coconut milk (Main) |
| 250 ml | Thick coconut milk, or use coconut cream (Main) |
| 1 dash | Oil, or ghee, optional |
| 1 dash | Lemon juice, to serve |
| 1 handful | Coriander leaves, to serve |
Directions
- Add the onions to the slow cooker and follow with all remaining ingredients, save the last four – the thick coconut milk or coconut cream, oil or ghee, lemon juice and coriander leaves.
- Set the slow cooker to Low and cook undisturbed for 7-8 hours until the meat is meltingly tender.
- Switch to High, take lid off and stir in reserved coconut cream or thick coconut milk. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until gravy is the desired consistency. If your slow cooker doesn't cook high enough, transfer gravy to a pan to boil until thick.
- If you like, heat oil or ghee in a frying pan and brown the cooked meat on all sides, keeping gravy warm.
- Serve the beef thickly sliced and topped with the hot gravy, rather like a beef roast, and freshened with a squirt of lemon juice and a few coriander leaves. Excellent with basmati rice and steamed greens.