Slow-cooked beef and sweet potato coconut curry

Name: Slow-cooked beef and sweet potato coconut curry
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 4-6
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 2 tbsp neutral oil; 2 brown onions, finely diced; 8 garlic cloves, chopped; 1 tbsp panch phoron* (Indian spice mix, see note); 3 tbsp mild curry powder; 2 tbsp finely grated ginger; 750g chuck steak, chopped into large bite-size chunks; 2 x 400ml cans coconut milk; 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into chunks (a touch larger than bite-sized)

Katrina Meynink

July 11, 2023

Serve this coconutty curry with rice and naan.Katrina Meynink

easyTime:2 hours +Serves:4-6

Sometimes it’s the simplicity of what you throw in a pot that fells even the most hardened of dinnertime critics. Case in point: this simple curry that is fulfilling in every sense.

There’s the texture of the beef, which has both bite and softness, and the sweet-savoury depths that come when liberal spicing and coconut milk are cooked down together, taking their time to get to know each other.

This is the kind of “yes, I have those ingredients” curry that has an engrossing, soothing power.

Ingredients

2 tbsp neutral oil
2 brown onions, finely diced
8 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp panch phoron* (Indian spice mix, see note)
3 tbsp mild curry powder
2 tbsp finely grated ginger
750g chuck steak, chopped into large bite-size chunks
2 x 400ml cans coconut milk
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into chunks (a touch larger than bite-sized)

To serve

steamed rice
fluffy naan
1-2 tbsp chopped salted peanuts per serve

Method

Step 1
Place a large heavy-based pot over low heat. Add the oil and once shimmering, add the onions and cook until soft and fragrant, stirring often, for at least 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute before adding the curry powder and panch phoron. Cook until the onion and garlic is coated in the spice mixture. Add the ginger and the steak and cook for 5 minutes or until the beef is browned. Add the coconut milk and gently simmer with the lid off for 1 hour or until the meat is soft (if the liquid looks like it is reducing too rapidly, place the lid on the pot).
Step 2
Add the sweet potato pieces and cook for another hour with the lid on until the meat is incredibly soft, and the sweet potato is cooked through.
Step 3
Serve with rice, naan and a smattering of salted peanuts.

*Note: You can purchase panch phoron from Herbie’s or Gewurzhaus, or you can make a quick blend yourself by combining toasted cumin, nigella, fennel, mustard and fenugreek seeds (the spices are toasted but left whole). One teaspoon of each spice is great, although I recommend a ½ teaspoon of fenugreek, as this can have some bitter undertones.

Tip: You can also throw this into a slow-cooker and cook on low for 8 hours for a great workday workaround.