Easiest Beef Fry ever..Mallu style

The last few times i tried making beef fry, it just didn't turn out well. My mom in law makes the yummiest beef fry and when we were in Chennai she used to send down a packet if someone came to Chennai. Now that we are in UK, we dont have such advantages and have to make do with what i prepare. I used to make it in large quantities and freeze, and as and when required, sautee it in oil and onions and have it. But it never used to taste like hers. First of all, washing and cleaning it kinda puts me off the whole thing and even after its cooked thoroughly I keep thinking it tastes/smells raw. Yeah i know i know, I'm just making a fuss. But whatever it is, my dear husband wholeheartedly eats it and even compliments me...so no worries:)

But just the other day i had some friends over and made a small batch for starters and it actually was not that bad. Kerala style beef fry and a glass of red wine was perfect to kick start the evening.

Here is the recipe:

Beef- 500 gms cut into cubes

Onions- 1 large

Green Chillies- 2 split lengthwise

Ginger Garlic paste (gg paste)- 2tsp

Coconut slices- a handful

Powders:

Coriander pwd- 1tsp

Pepper pwd- 2 tsp

Turmeric pwd-1/4 tsp

Chilli pwd- 1tsp

Garam masala- 1tsp

Curry leaves- 2 sprigs

Coconut oil- 2 tbs

Salt to taste

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and sautee the onions, green chillies and one sprig of curry leaves till done (till the raw smell dies). To this add the gg paste, mix well for a minute or so. Then goes in the powders. Sautee well till the raw smell goes. Add the washed beef cubes and the coconut slices to this mix. Make sure the beef cubes are coated well with the masala. Close the lid and cook on high fire. Once the steam comes out, place the nozzle and reduce fire to medium. After the first whistle (or approx 8 to 10mins.), turn off fire and take the cooker off the burner. Wait for the pressure to release on its own and then open the lid. It would be in a semi gravy state. If there is too much water, put it back on the fire and cook it open, till the water evaporates and the cubes absorb the masala completely. At this stage if you want, you can cool it down, zip lock and freeze it. And as and when required, you can do the next stage:

In a frying pan, heat the rest of the coconut oil, throw in the curry leaves and the cooked beef. Sautee it till the beef becomes nice and brown. If you need it dry, you can keep it on for a longer time. I like mine a bit moist.

Note: The beef we get here cooks really fast, so i keep it on for only about 8mins. I guess it depends.

This time i used coconut oil and it made a world of a difference, at least to me. We don't really like/use that much coconut oil in our cooking, so this was a delightful change and i liked it. You can use any other vegetable oil if you prefer.

The coconut slices are available here...obviously frozen..I'm sure the fresh ones taste much better.

I didn't have tomatoes so i skipped that bit. You can put it in just before you add the powders.

If you are not that big a fan of curry leaves, you just need to use one sprig and put it only in the last stage...the final frying stage or choose not to put them at all. I love the flavour it gives and so get a little carried away at times