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First Class Railway Curry

A rich, comforting curry mellowed with coconut milk and sharpened with a splash of vinegar.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 8
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 60ml mustard oil (substitute: unrefined rapeseed oil or ghee)
Whole spices:
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 6 cloves
  • 5 green cardamom
  • 4 Kashmiri red chilies
  • 2 Indian bay leaves
Forthe paste:
  • 1 big brown onion
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 Tbsp chopped garlic
Ground spices:
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1½ tsp coriander powder
  • 1½ tsp cumin powder
Other ingredients:
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 medium tomatoes (chopped)
  • 1 kg beef with bones
  • 350g (4 medium) potatoes (quartered)
  • 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 400ml coconut milk

Method
 

  1. Make a smooth paste of onion, garlic and ginger in a blender.
  2. Heat the oil in a pot on medium heat and add the whole spices. Once the spices are aromatic, add the prepared paste, along with the tomatoes, ground spices and salt. Saute (bhoonify) until oil appears on the surface and the mixture turns light brown. You will need to add splashes of water from time to time to avoid burning. Keep stirring.
    For an instant pot, you need to do this step on saute mode.
  3. Add the meat and saute it for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
  4. Add 700ml of water and cover with a lid. Cook for about an hour of 90 minutes (depending on the toughness of the meat), until the meat is cooked but not fall apart tender.
    If using an instant pot, reduce the amount of water to 200ml and cook for 30-40 minutes (depending on the toughness of you meat) on high pressure mode.
  5. Add the potatoes, cover again with the lid and let it cook until they're tender.
    For instant pot, cook on high pressure for 5-7 minutes.
  6. Add the vinegar and the coconut milk. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. You can adjust the consistency of the curry to your liking by adding more water or cooking it a bit longer to thicken it. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed then turn off heat.

Notes

If you want to make a smaller amount, reduce the quantity of ingredients by half.