Beef Stew (Indian Style)
A dry but rich, onion based stew with beef served at Eid and special events.
Ingredients
- 6 big (600 grams) Onion
- 1 piece (5 cm) fresh ginger
- 2-5 spicy green chilies (adjust to preferred spice level)
- ½ cup ghee (substitute: olive oil)
- 1 kg beef (preferably with bones)
- 3 tsp ginger-garlic paste (or 1½ tsp of each ginger and garlic paste)
- 2 black cardamom
- 3 green cardamom
- 3 dried red chilies (adjust to preferred spice level)
- ½ tsp Kashmiri red chili powder (or red chili powder)
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp garam masala (preferably homemade)
- ½ cup greek yogurt (for paleo/Whole30 use non-dairy yogurt)
- 1½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Peel the onions, and cut in half. Thinly slice all the onions. Tip: To avoid tears, keep the root intact while slicing the onion.
- Peel the ginger by scratching it with a knife of a spoon. Cut in thin slices then make fine juliennes. Slice the green chilies.
- Put a big pot on medium heat and add ghee/oil. Once the ghee/oil is hot, add the sliced onion. Stir and fry until the onion just starts to get brown. It will take around 7-8 minutes on medium heat.
- Once the onion just start to brown, take out half of them from the pot and reserve for adding later. Fry the remaining half until it gets brown through. Keep stirring to ensure even heat.
- Once the onion turns brown, add the beef, ginger-garlic paste, black cardamom, green cardamom, dried red chilies, red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, yogurt and salt. Mix everything well to coat the meat evenly with the spices.
- Turn the heat to medium low and cover with a good fitting lid. Let it cook for 1 hour or until the meat is tender. (Do not overcook)
- Once the meat is tender, uncover and turn the heat to high. Add the reserved fried onion, ginger juliennes and chopped green chilies. Stir and cook until all the liquid has evaporated. (This will take about 8-10 minutes). Keep stirring from time to time to avoid burning. If the stew starts to stick at the bottom, reduce the heat and continue cooking.
- The color of the stew will get darker with cooking. Once all the liquid has gone, turn off heat. Serve with naan or chapati.(For paleo/Whole30 serve with cauliflower rice).
Notes
If using pressure cooker: In step 6, seal the lid and cook on low heat for 35-40 minutes until the meat is tender. The other steps remain the same.
If using Instant pot: Follow steps 3-5 on saute mode (high). In step 6, put on lid and turn to pressure cook on high for 30 minutes. Quick release and check if the meat is tender. Otherwise cook for a few minutes longer. Follow the remaining steps on saute mode. It might take longer for the liquid to dry in the instant pot as the saute mode is comparatively milder than the stove heat.