This preparation, a Beef and Beetroot Curry with Ginger and Orange is definitely non-traditional, but it is a most intriguing combination of flavours. It is not original, of course. I sampled something of this nature in a local restaurant – not Indian – and was greatly taken with it. I had no precise idea what its recipe might have been, but my immediate reaction was; ‘I can do that!’ And so I did, as below.
Ingredients.
1 tsp turmeric powder.
1 tsp ground coriander.
1 tsp ground fennel seed.
2 tsp ground cumin.
Salt to taste.
Cayenne pepper to taste.
½ cup cooking oil.
3 large onions, peeled and diced.
25mm cube fresh ginger, peeled and grated.
1 kg lean diced beef.
3 tblsp plain flour.
2 cups beef stock.
2 whole beetroots.
Zest and juice of an orange.
Coriander greens for garnish.
Method.
Mix the dry spices and the salt together and set aside. Heat the oil in a pot over a hot flame and sauté the onion and ginger until the onion is soft. Stir in the spice mix and cook for 2-3 minutes, adding a little water to the bottom of the pot to prevent sticking. Add the meat and stir well until fully covered with the spice mix, then stir in the flour until it disappears.
Add the stock and stir well until boiling and beginning to thicken. Add the beetroots, bring to the boil again, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 1 hour. Remove the beetroots and set aside to cool. Continue to cook the meat for a further 1 hour. When cool, scrape the skins off the beetroots and dice them.
When the second hour is up, add the diced beetroot, stir through, bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for a further 15 minutes. Add the orange zest and juice, stir through and serve garnished with chopped coriander, with rice on the side.
Serves: 2.
Poddimok 