Goan Curried Braised Beef With Potatoes, Cider Vinegar & Coconut Milk

Do you have any idea how exhausting a museum excursion is with 2 toddlers?

We spent today at the Cincinnati Children's Museum as well as the History Museum (which is in the same location and our pass gets us in to either), and we had a blast. But it is an hour away, our first attempt at leaving failed when the car died (we shifted the car seats to John's car) and we needed to stop at Best Buy and the grocery store on the way home, and let's just say that by the time we got home nobody was very cheerful, we ate take-out burritos for dinner, and every key that I hit feels like a cardio vascular exercise.

OK maybe not that bad but you get the point.

Which is a shame because I am in danger of backlogging on recipes but I have to get across to you somehow how incredibly spectacular that Indian dish I made was. It was run-don't-walk to get the ingredients kind of good, especially because in another month or 2 none of you will feel like making it. Unless you live in Canada, in which case I give you 3 months maybe.

Raghavan Iyer (whose dish it is) called it a stew, but for us it was more of a braise. You see he calls for something like a pound of chuck cut into cubes, but for us chuck is almost always packaged and frozen in 3 lbs pieces, frequently bone-in--plus I hate the idea of cutting chuck into 1-inch cubes and stewing them quickly. I am more of a slow and low kinda girl. But I did not correspondingly increase the liquid, just the potatoes, which meant that the sauce was thick and rich and out of this world--but technically healthier than tripling the coconut milk would have been anyway. So just know that I did that--and if you want you should increase the liquids.

This is a Goan dish, probably influenced by Portuguese merchants. That is a guess on my part--Iyer does not mention it--but the presence of beef and vinegar indicate that to me. In vindaloo, the vinegar is an influence from the Portuguese merchants who carried wine--but because of the long trip some would sour and they would find a cooking use for it. It stands to reason since this is a Goan dish also that the same would be true. And beef is so rare, at least to me, in Indian food that it seems like a European influence as well. So that's my dime store analysis of the origin of this dish--take it for what it is worth (probably not much).

I served this with a Carrot Cashew Salad, which I am glad we made but I don't know if I would call it a repeater. I am going to share the recipe because I am always on the lookout for easy Indian veggie dishes to serve with curries, and I definitely think this one is worth trying. I am just not guaranteeing you will fall in love with it--it's flavors are a little unexpected to this American's palate, and my kids were very wary of it. But John and I ate it all--I liked it more the second night; maybe I just had to get used to it?


By the way: raise your hand if you knew that turmeric was a meat tenderizer. I sure did not! Cancer fighting super spice, yes. Meat tenderizer, that was new to me.



Goan Curried Braised Beef With Potatoes, Cider Vinegar & Coconut Milk
Adapted from 660 Curries

3 lbs bone-in beef chuck, cut into 5-7 large chunks (see comments above re: braised vs stew; if you use less beef be sure to reduce the cayenne and turmeric)
3 t cayenne pepper OR 1 t cayenne, 1 t half sharp paprika and 1 t sweet paprika for less heat
1 1/2 t ground turmeric
1 1/2 lbs peeled baking potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks and submerged in water
2 T vegetable oil
3 red onions, thinly sliced (shallots are fine too--Iyer calls for shallots)
1/2 t cardamom (I am out of whole--use 4 bruised whole pods if you have them)
4 dried bay leaves
5 2-inch cinnamon sticks
2 heaping t ground cumin
2 heaping t ground coriander
1 14-oz can coconut milk
1 14-0z can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup cider vinegar (Iyer calls for malt vinegar which I do not have)
salt to taste
chopped cilantro for garnish

Cut the chuck into large pieces and cut the bone out. Rub the meat with the cayenne and turmeric and refrigerate (with the bone) for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight. The longer it marinates the more the turmeric will tenderize the meat.

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Heat the oil in a large dutch oven. Add the cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves and roast in the oil until fragrant. Add the meat and brown it and the bone in stages, on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and add the onions. Cook briefly. Add the cumin and coriander. Briefly stir fry. Re-add the meat as well as the vinegar, coconut milk and tomatoes (including the juices). Bring to a boil. Place parchment paper over the pot and then place a heavy lid on the pot. Place in the oven for 1 1/2 hours (or longer, in which case braise at 275 F).

Remove the pot and stir the meat briefly. Drain the potatoes and add them to the pot. Turn the heat up to 300 F if you had it lower. Stir the potatoes into the liquids and replace the parchment and lid. Put it back in the oven for another hour or until the potatoes are fork tender but not falling apart. Iyer says because of the tomatoes, the potatoes can take at least 1 1/2 hours before falling apart. If the dish is ready before you are, just leave it in the oven at 250 F.

Before serving, sprinkle with chopped cilantro. We really liked it with a sweet hot tart chutney, such as this one, which I pulled out of the freezer from last summer.



Gajar Kaju Kachamber (Shredded Carrot & Cashew Salad with Mustard Seeds)
Adapted from Kord Krishna's Cuisine, Yamuna Devi

2 cups shredded carrots, pressed dry
1 sweet bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup cashew nuts, toasted and chopped (I just used salted and roasted)
3-4 T plain yogurt, to taste
2 T chopped cilantro
2 T ghee (or vegetable oil, but the ghee will have more flavor)
2 t dark mustard seeds

Toss the first 5 ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Heat the ghee in a small saucepan. Add the mustard seeds and heat until they pop--be prepared to cover the pot to keep seeds from escaping. As soon as they stop popping, pour over the salad and toss.