Yummy Beef Curry With Potatoes

This beef curry was made for my Sunday breakfast with vellayappam. It’s a simple recipe though result is quite rich and spicy. The kids stick to eating just the potatoes from the curry.

I have used veal beef. In Trivandrum, I buy them from Spencer’s at Pattom. I should be in Trivandrum for another three months. Then hopefully I and the kiddos will be in Kochi with my husband. It’s been a tough 16 months of separation. The Armed Forces should send only unmarried officers to non-family stations. Otherwise they should give more vacations to people posted there.

In the picture given, the gravy is quite thick. Actually all the posts so far, they are just normal everyday food. I don’t make them with a recipe book in hand. The photos are original ones with all the shortcuts and mistakes. No particular recipe is followed as such. When I am writing the recipe for the blog I have to think about the quantities used and the proper steps. I have to add the steps that I may have accidently skipped while making it. I mean for a north Indian making aloo paratha, they don’t actually think about the steps or ingredients while making it, it comes naturally. Each time they make it, the recipe maybe slightly different because they lack a certain ingredient or they decided to add an extra ingredient. Hope you got my point.

BEEF CURRY

Ingredients:

• Beef– ½ kg
• Turmeric – ¼ tsp.
•  Vinegar – 1 tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Oil- 2 tbsp.
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Dry red chillies – 2
• Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
• Onion – 2 medium
• Green chillies -2
• Garlic – 5
• Ginger – 1 inch pc
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Chilli powder – 1 tsp
•  Coriander Powder – 2 tbsp
•  Crushed peppercorns – 1tsp
• Tomato -2
•  Potatoes -2
• Garam masala – ½ tsp
• Thin coconut milk – 2 cups
• Thick Coconut milk – ½ cup
•   Coriander leaves

Method of Preparation:

1.   Clean and cut the beef and poataoes into medium cubes

2.   Pressure cook the beef in 1 ½ cup of water with salt, turmeric and vinegar on medium fire for three to four whistles.

3.   Heat oil, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add dry chillies and curry leaves. Add chopped onion, ginger, garlic and slit green chillies. Sauté till the onion starts to brown.

4.   On low flame, add coriander powder, chilli powder and turmeric powder. When the masalas are cooked add the chopped tomato and salt. Cook till oil clears.

5.   Add the potato cubes. Mix well. Add 2 cups thin coconut milk. Check salt.

6.   When the potatoes are half cooked, add the beef with its water. Cover and cook.

7.   Add ½ cup of thick coconut milk, crushed pepper and garam masala. Mix well. Check the salt. Do not boil.

8.   Garnish with chopped coriander.

Additional Tips:

• Balance the final flavour with a tbsp of tomato sauce
• Add a tsp of vinegar at the end if a little more tang is need.
• Add more or less coconut milk to adjust the consistency of the gravy.

Kadala Curry With White Chickpeas

Puttu and Kadala curry is a favourite combination for keralites. Kadala is the malayalam term for chick peas or garbanzo beans. The customary way of making Kadala curry is by grinding fried coconut with coriander powder, chilli powder and turmeric. I will give that nadan kadala recipe in another post since it’s a classic recipe. This is not the standard brown kadala curry. I prefer a different recipe with Kabuli channa or white kadala.  

KADALA CURRY

Ingredients:

• White Kadala – 1 cup
• Turmeric – ¼ tsp.
• Salt – to taste
• Oil- 2 tbsp.
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Dry red chillies – 2
• Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
• Onion – 2 medium
• Green chillies -2
• Garlic – 5
• Ginger – 1 inch pc
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Coriander Powder – 2 tbsp
• Tomato -1
• Garam masala – ½ tsp
• Coconut bits- 1 tbsp
• Thick Coconut milk – ½ cup
• Ghee – 1 tsp

Method of Preparation:

1.  Soak the kadala for eight hours or overnight.
2. Pressure cook the kadala in enough water with salt and turmeric on medium fire for four whistles. Drain the water and keep aside for gravy.
3. Heat oil, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add dry chillies and curry leaves. Add chopped onion, ginger, garlic and slit green chillies. Sauté till the onion starts to brown. On low flame, add coriander powder, chilli powder and turmeric powder. When the masalas are cooked add the chopped tomato and salt. Cook till oil clears.
4. Add the cooked kadala and garam masala. Mix well. Add 2 cups of the kadala water kept aside from the pressure cooker. Take ¼ cup of cooled kadala with its water and grind to form a fine paste. Add this into the kadala curry so that it thickens.
5.  Add ½ cup of thick coconut milk. And mix well. Check the salt. Do not boil.
6. Fry coconut bits and curry leaves in ghee and pour over the curry.

Additional Tips:

• This goes very well with chappathi. I add potatoes and coriander leaves when i make it as a chappathi side dish.
• Adjust thickness of gravy with more or less coconut milk.

 

  

Kerala Breakfast Recipe - Puttu with Kadala Curry

Puttu with Kadala Curry is a popular Kerala breakfast. We made Puttu with Kadala curry for breakfast yesterday. I took photographs. But I didn’t get time to post it. It's not much fun cooking for myself. My husband is a Naval Officer posted on a ship in the Andamans. He should be transferred to Kochi by June. I am counting days to when we can be together as a family again. My 3 yr son Rohaan has gone to Kannur with my mother-in-law for 10 days. He’ll be back on Sunday. The satisfaction in cooking is seeing your loved ones relish the food you made. 

Anyway Tania was more interested in eating just the Kadala. I’d pick them from the curry, peel them and give to her. She had more than half a cup. For a 2 year old that’s adequate protein for breakfast. She ate a plantain too. I made the kadala curry with white kadala rather than the standard brown ones.

Though Puttu and Kadala curry are the classic combination,it can be had with sweet combinations too. I remember my childhood days in Kottayam, of eating Puttu with lots of ghee and sugar. Honey and plantains makes a lovely combination with puttu. Ammachi used to serve steamed bananas with Puttu with a thinner version of honey called Paani. She sometimes used to add ripe jackfruit bits to the puttu powder. Puttu is made in Puttukutti/ puttu-maker.

PUTTU

Ingredients:

• Puttu Podi – 2 cups
• Salt – to taste
• Water – ½ cup
• Grated coconut – ½ cup

Method of Preparation:

1.  Mix salt in water and add the water little by little to the rice flour and mix it till the powder is moist and resembles fine breadcrumbs. If too much of lumps is formed just run it in the blender for a few seconds.    Keep aside for five minutes.
2. Put one tbsp of coconut on top of the round metal disc inside as the first layer in the puttu-maker .
3.  Add the rice flour till half, then add another tbsp of coconut. Repeat the process, till the mould is filled. Do not press in or pack tightly.  Closethe lid.
4. Fill water in puttu kudam (pot). Place the puttu kutti on the puttu kudam. Cook it on medium flame for around 5 minutes till steam comes out of the holes in the lid.
5. Remove the cylinder from the pot. Push out the puttu on to the serving plate with the metal rod provided with the puttu-maker.

 

 

Additional Tips:

1. We buy readymade Puttu powder. I prefer Nirapara for putuu and Brahmins for iddiappam.
2. To make Puttu powder: Soak the rice for two hours and strain it. Spread the rice in a cloth or a plate and allow them to dry. Grind the dried raw rice to a fine powder in the mixer. It shouldn’t be too fine though. Roast the powder for 5 minutes. Stir it well, while heating.  Allow to cool. Keep in an airtight jar.  Has a shelf life of two months.
3. Can add bits of jackfruit to the Puttu powder.
4. Can add 2 tbsp Egg masala or chicken masala as layers inside for a fancier version.

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Check out other Breakfast Recipes:

Vellayappam
Palappam