Well, here’s another original one from me. I have cooked beef only a few times and I wasn’t sure how this would turn out. I had got a beef request long long… long time back and I had been trying to come up with a nice recipe.

The only beef recipe I knew was the one with mint leaves and I didn’t want to repeat it from my sister’s blog. But I am happy to announce that this recipe is a good one and I am satisfied with how it has shaped up. I have tried to use the milk(y) smell of beef instead of trying to subdue it using ingredients with contrasting aromas. Most of the traditional local recipes that I have come across seem to have that approach towards beef. So, I tried to steer the milky smell of beef into something more pleasant by using a lot of butter in this recipe.

For this recipe, you will need:

• 500 g beef (cut into about 1 inch thick pieces).
• 1.5 cups of presoaked kidney beans/rajma.
• 4 small tomatoes (or 2 medium ones).
• 1 large onion (or 2 small ones).
• 5-6 small potatoes.
• a few garlic cloves.
• 50 g butter.
• a few sprigs of celery.
• 1 tsp oregano.
• 1 tsp thyme.
• salt to taste.

Put the beef and kidney beans into a pressure cooker and cook them for 25 whistles. You don’t have to submerge them completely in water. You just need enough water to last 25 whistles. If you are using a pot, cook them till the beef is properly cooked. It might take about 2 hours of cooking and you will need to replace the evapourated water from time to time. After 25 whistles, keep it aside to cool down. 

Meanwhile, chop the onion and tomatoes as shown above. Peel and crush the garlic.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunky pieces. 

Separate the celery leaves from the stems….

… and chop the stems as shown above. Keep them aside.

Now, chop the celery leaves finely and keep them aside. 

When the cooker has cooled down, open it and strain the beef and kidney beans.

Do not throw away the stock. 

Separate the beans and the meat.

Grind the kidney beans into a paste in a blender. Add some of the stock to get the paste-like consistency. 

Now, heat a pan and put in the butter.

When the butter melts, put in the onion.

Fry the onion till it softens and then put in the potatoes. 

Fry them for about 30 seconds and then put in the tomatoes. 

When the tomatoes start to soften, add the beef. 

Fry them till the onion and tomatoes start to caramelise. Then add in the kidney bean paste and mix them. 

Pour in the remaining of the stock and add some more water to it to make the gravy thinner. I added about half a litre of water. Add in the salt, celery stalks, oregano and thyme. 

Cook them till the gravy is as thick as tomato soup. Now add the garlic and cook some more. 

When the gravy returns to the paste-like consistency, it is done. Garnish it with the celery leaves.

Well, the consistency of the gravy is fine this way, but you can stop at the soup-like stage as well. Korou and my sister both said that they would prefer it that way.

This one goes very well with bread. I hope you try it and enjoy it too.