A slow-cooked beef madras using brisket is an excellent curry choice. It serves as a fantastic substitute for lamb, which is quite pricey currently. The brisket pairs nicely with the spices as well.
I prepared this dish using a slow cooker, but I didn’t actually cook it in one. If you own a multifunction slow cooker, it’s worth giving it a try. Just be aware that this recipe yields a generous quantity of curry, so be sure your cooker is large enough!
The onions need to be browned and caramelised, the spices cooked out correctly and the meat browned, something that is just not possible in a traditional slow cooker.
However once all that is out of the way, a slow cooker is the perfect vessel to cook this curry. It can be bunged in and left to do its thing, with nothing but an occasional stir.
You will notice that other than the blended tomato, no other liquid is added to the slow cooked beef madras. It may look a little thick when added to the slow cooker, however the meat will release juices as it cooks and little water evaporates from a slow cooker as it doesn’t cook at a high enough heat, and the lid is permanently on. The Almond powder and toasted desiccated coconut will also help to keep a nice thick sauce as well as adding flavour.
remember all the spice blends for this curry are available to buy from www.omemade.co.uk.
If you like the look of this dish you may want to have a look at the Lamb Madras recipe.
Slow Cooked Beef Madras
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp oil
- 6 medium onions peeled and sliced
- 2 tbsp garlic & ginger paste or 12 garlic cloves finely chopped and 1 tbsp of fresh ginger finely chopped
- 5 tsp Hotel Gravy Masala or whole spices. Cinnamon, cardamom, clove, Tej Patta etc.
- 1.5 tbsp mix powder or mild curry powder
- 4 tsp Kahmiri chilli powder
- 2-4 tsp chilli powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp unsweetened desiccated coconut lightly toasted
- 2 tbsp ground almonds
- 1.2 kg tinned tomatoes
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1.4 kg beef brisket cut into 1'' cubes
- 2 lemons, juice of
- 2 tsp tamarind concentrare
- a splash of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp dark brown soft sugar or jaggery
- 3 tbsp fresh coriander chopped
- 2 tsp garam masala
Instructions
Curry Paste
- Heat the oil in a pan and when hot add the onions. Turn the heat down to medium and cook the onions, stirring often, until turning a deep brown.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook gently for around 40 seconds.
- Add the hotel masala, nix powder and all the other spices and fry for 30 – 40 seconds.
- Put the onion and spice paste into a heatproof bowl and stir in the ground almond and desiccated coconut (if you have used whole spices you may want to fish them out). Once the mixture has cooled, put into a food processor and blend until you have a smooth paste.
- Remove the spice paste from the food processor. Put the tomatoes, salt and tomato puree in the processor and blend until smooth.
The Curry
- Switch on your slow cooker to high and put in the spice paste to start heating up.
- In a pan heat a little oil and add the brisket to seal and colour. You may have to do this in several batches as you don't want to overcrowd the pan. The idea is to get a good colour and browning on it. If the pan is overcrowded it will just steam.
- Put the browned meat in with the spice paste and stir to coat it.
- Heat the tomato mixture up in the pan the beef was cooked in. Once it is simmering add to the slow cooker and stir everything together.
- Add the sugar, tamarind, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce, stir in and put on the lid. When it comes up to a simmer, turn the slow cooker down to medium.
- Cook for around 5 hours and test to see if the meat is nearly done, it wants to be soft when pressed with a spoon. If it is nearly there, check for seasoning and add more salt if needed. Add the garam masala and cook for another 30 – 60 minutes.
- When ready, stir through the fresh coriander and serve with some Indian style bread to scoop up the rich sauce and meat.