Thursday 10 November 2016

Mummy's Beef Curry



This is one curry which my brothers and I look forwards to when we return home to Terengganu. It is a curry reserved for special occasions like Chinese New Year.

My mum has since retired from cooking our Chinese New Year reunion dinner and now that my grandparents are no longer with us, the celebration has moved to PJ (where you know who does the cooking. Hah!). 


Through the years, I made a few attempts to recreate my mum's much loved goobak kari (beef curry) but mine tasted bleahks! So instead of experimenting and then having to eat subpar curry, I asked my mum for her recipe.


That was back in 2012 and I still have her printed email. Mum's top tip for a tasty and thick curry is onions. Lots of onions. Her recipe for 1kg of beef calls for 1/2 kg of onions. And mum uses evaporated milk instead of coconut milk.

I actually tried mum's recipe a few times. I did not put it up on the blog for lack of photos because by time I finished cooking, there was not enough light to take better shots.


Then a few months ago, I cooked this curry again and stashed it in the freezer. When I reheated the curry and ate it for lunch, I was immediately reminded of why this curry is much loved by my family.

Last weekend, I cooked a small batch and it is now time to share. Back home, we eat this with white rice and coleslaw. Try it. Coleslaw is great with curry :)

Mummy's Beef Curry
Recipe source : Phong Hong's Mum with some deviations. Hah!

- 400 beef, cut into cubes
- 4 medium sized big onions, sliced
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 pandan leaf, knotted
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 packet curry powder (I used Baba's 25g), 1 tbsp use to marinate beef, the remainder mix with some water to form a runny paste
- 2 cardamoms
- 3 cloves
- 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- 2 ripe tomatoes, cut into quarters
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 4 potatoes cut into quarters
- some water
- 100 ml evaporated milk

Method :
1. Pound garlic and ginger into a paste. Set aside.
2. Marinate the beef with 1 tbsp curry powder and 1 tsp turmeric powder (my beef was cold from the fridge and I let it stand for about an hour to marinate and come to room temperature )
3. Heat enough oil in wok and saute the sliced onions until wilted and slightly browned around the edges.
4. Add the ginger and garlic paste together with curry leaves, pandan leaf, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon stick and star anise. Continue to saute until onion/garlic mixture is lightly browned (be careful not to burn).
5. Add curry paste and quickly stir to mix everything up. If mixture is dry, add some water.
6. Add beef and stir to coat the beef with the curry mixture.
7. At this stage, you can either continue cooking in the wok or transfer everything into a pot.
8. Add tomatoes and some water (amount depending on how much gravy you want), bring to boil and then lower heat to a simmer.
9. When the beef is almost tender, add potatoes and continue to simmer until potatoes are soft.
10. Add salt to taste.
11. Lastly add evaporated milk and stir to mix. Taste again for seasoning and turn off the heat.  


32 comments:

  1. Hi... looks so delicious.. anak lelaki sy suka sangat kari... boleh try this resipi nti :)

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  2. I come to help myself for my lunch later, hehe...

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  3. If you didn't say it was beef curry, I would have thought it was chicken coz it didn't look like beef cubes to me...are there any bones? But the look of the curry sauce is spot on. I can eat many bowls of rice with this. By the way, how long do you have to cook the beef to get it tender? Actually, lots of onions is a top tip for many dishes like in braised mushrooms, dark soy prawns, bolognese sauce, etc. coz I think it brings thickness and sweetness! ;)

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    1. No bones, I cut the meat into smaller chunks. I think it took me about 2 hours to get it tender.

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  4. Hi Phong Hong,

    Your mum's curry look superb. Fully flavoured with spices and fresh ingredients, every slip of this gravy must be making you feeling so good that you think you are the luckiest person in the world :)

    Zoe

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    1. Hi Zoe! Thanks, yes I was so happy I nailed the flavors :)

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  5. Your mum's beef curry looked good, rich and delicious. I would like to try it one day.

    I also look forward to my mum's cooking when it comes to cny. Her many Hakka specialty dishes such as kiam chay ark(salted mustard duck soup), braised duck and curry chicken are some of my favourite of all times!! We could never get enough of mum's food right??

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    1. I agree, in fact we can't get 100% exactly like what our mum's cook. Somehow mum's tastes better :)

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  6. Wahhh... I want to try your mama's curry too.. but will replace with chicken, can ah? This type of authentic recipe must be kept well well... :)

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    1. Can, you can use the same recipe for chicken.

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  7. I am too lazy to cook from scratch these days, will settle for less and just use those instant pastes. A1 MOUNTAIN GLOBE brand is very good, nicer than all the rest that I've tried.

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    1. Since this curry is quite easy, it's quite ok to cook from scratch. I must look for this A1 paste and try it out. I do have my lazy days :)

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  8. I do love to eat Beef Curry sometimes and yours is the most yellowish I have seen. Plus potatoes added inside! WOW! I must try it next CNY. Please invite me and I promise to wash all the dishes & mop the floor.

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    1. hah..hah..TM you are always so funny :) I have slight OCD so I have to wash the dishes and mop the floor myself LOL!

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  9. Curry gravy looks thick and nice, great to dip with bread or roti canai!

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    1. Yes, too bad I did not have any roti canai with me.

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  10. this looks quite reminiscent of southern thailand's massaman curry (my favourite thai curry, incidentally), which also often uses beef. is it a curry that's often seen in terengganu households? maybe the proximity of terengganu to southern thailand may explain the similarity?

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    1. I think massaman curry has more ingredients in the curry paste, something that I want to explore next. I am not certain if my mum's curry is common to other households if Terengganu. Perhaps each family has their own version but what I know for sure is that this curry is kick ass!

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  11. Hi Phong Hong, I love beef curry but yet to cook it at home. Thank you for sharing your Mum's recipe :D Looks really delicious!

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    1. Hi Ann! It's great to share and spread good recipes. I hope you get to cook this curry one day.

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  12. I love beef curry. I want to try your recipe. Looking at your curry makes my mouth waters.

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    1. Thank you, Nancy. I hope you try it because you will love it :)

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  13. Your beef curry looks so tasty. I believe it is not very spicy so just right for me.

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    1. It is not spicy at all, quite mild but full of flavors.

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  14. Hi PH,
    Wah your curry nampak sedaplah..
    I can imagine the taste..sedap juga dimakan dengan white/wholemeal bread or roti perancis or even roti prata/canai.. oh yes and also roti kirai!..:)

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    1. Hi Ayu! Thank you. Ya, sedap juga dengan roti. Tapi PH lebih suka makan dengan nasi :)

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