Beef Stew Meat Gravy

    This is a mouth-watering traditional Indian beef gravy recipe. This recipe is inspired by my mom and does not use any readymade ingredients. But I will make note of ready to use substitutes which can be bought from the store. However, I will indulge you to try out the original recipe for the authentic taste. My family enjoys this recipe every single time I cook. I hope you like it too.

    In this recipe, I have used beef stew meat but any other meat can be used as a substitute. It can be served with rice, Indian bread (chapati), Naan, or any other kind of bread.

Cuisine: Indian

Course: Entrée

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 50 mins

Total time: 60 mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

Marination:

1 lb beef stew meat
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp grounded pepper
2 cup of water

Gravy base:

2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp clarified butter (ghee) or butter
1 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
1 1/2 large onions
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 slit green chillies (optional)
1-inch grated ginger
3-4 cloves grated garlic
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp sesame seed
1 cup of cilantro
3 strands of mint
1/2 tomato
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp grounded pepper powder
2 pinches dry fenugreek leaves

Summarized Instructions:

1. Marinate the beef.

2. Add olive oil, a bay leaf and the marinated beef to the pressure cooker and sauté it until the water evaporates.

3. Add water and cook for 4 whistles, which takes about 20 mins.
4. In a large pan, add olive oil and clarified butter (ghee).
5. Add coriander and cumin powder, fry it.
6. Add onions, salt, sugar and green chillies, and caramelized it.
7. Add grated ginger and garlic paste.
8. Add turmeric and red chilli powder. Saute them for a minute or two.
8. Add the crushed fennel seeds and crushed sesame seeds.
9. Add cilantro, mint and tomato, and roast them well until the oil is separating from it.
10. Add dry fenugreek leaves and mix it well.
11. Add pressure cooked meat, garam masala, grounded pepper powder and sauté for 5 more minutes
12. Add the leftover water from the pressure cooked meat and wait until it thickens. Serve it hot with rice or bread.

Detailed Instructions

Here are the step-by-step instructions along with pictures which will help you all in cooking.

A. Tenderize and cook the stew meat

    There are many ways to tenderize the meat out of which I have tried meat tenderizer and pressure cooker. The pressure cooker works best for this recipe due to its taste, time and energy. A meat tenderizer consumes lot to time and energy to hammer every single meat.

1. Marinate the meat with salt, grounded pepper, turmeric and any cooking oil. I have used Olive oil for this recipe. Marinating the stew meat about 10 mins prior will enrich the taste.

2. Now set the cooker on medium-high on a stove. Once the cooker is hot, add a tablespoon of Olive oil, a bay leaf and then add the marinated beef and sauté it until the water evaporates.

3. Now add 2 cups of water or until the level of water is an inch above the meat and pressure cook for 4 whistles, which will take about 20 minutes. While the meat is cooking let move on to gravy base.

B. Prepare the gravy.

1. Grind the 1 tsp of cumin seeds and 1 tsp of coriander seed using a mortar pestle and set aside. You may use store-bought powder as well.

2. Use a large pan on medium-low heat, 2 tsp of oil (olive oil), 2 tsp of clarified butter (ghee) or butter and fry coriander and cumin powder for 10 sec. 

3. Now add roughly chopped 1 1/2 large red onions and let it cook slowly until they are soft and caramelized. I prefer red onion for this recipe over any other onion due to its taste better for cooking. Adding 1 tsp of salt will help onions cook fast on medium-low heat. Add half tsp of sugar, this will keep the onions from burning or dark brown color. Since my family enjoys eating spicy I have used 2-3 green chillies (use the green chillies according to spice level).

 4. Use half tsp of fennel seeds and half tsp sesame seeds and crush them together and set aside. I used mortar pestle for grinding it to powder.

5. Once the onions are translucent or soft which will take about 5mins. Add one-inch of grated ginger, 3-4 cloves of grated garlic or store-bought ginger-garlic paste 2 tsp. I like to use homemade paste since there will be no preservatives and it will be fresh. Also, add 2 tsp of turmeric powder, 1 tsp of red chilli powder or paprika and add the crushed powder from step 4 and saute them until the onions are completed soft/caramelized or mashed.

6. Now add a cup of cilantro, 3 strands of mint leaves and half a grated tomato (adding grated tomatoes will cook faster) and roast them well until the oil is separating from it.

7. Add 2 pinches of dry fenugreek leaves and sautés it for 5 more minutes.

C. Mixing the stew meat and gravy 

1. Now it is time to add pressure cooked meat and save its water for later use. 

2. Add 1 tsp of garam masala, 1 tsp of grounded pepper powder and mix it.

3. Now add the leftover water from the pressure cooked meat and wait until it thickens. There you have a perfect yummy, mouth-watering beef (stew meat) gravy.

    I hope you enjoy this recipe. Please do let me know in the comments below.