Beef Korma Background
So, obviously some of you will wonder why I’m making beef korma instead of the well-known chicken korma. I just wanted to put my own twist on it. Plus, there’s a lot less beef korma recipes (taps head).
Beef isn’t eaten much in India, killing cows is actually illegal in 20 of its 29 states. This is because the Hindu majority does not wish to kill cows, which is great. But I am willing to. And so is the 11% of the Indian population that is Muslim.
You see, the Mughal Empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th – 17 century. The official religion was Islam, even though the majority of their subjects were Hindu. I won’t get into any of the problems that caused. This is a food blog!
Anyway, that’s my roundabout explanation for why using beef isn’t a violation of Indian cuisine. I got some terse words from someone for substituting gouda for queso fresco in my papa a la huancaina recipe. So if anyone gets angry, that’s ok. Just remember there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
Beef Korma Tips
1. Meat Marinade
You want to let your meat marinate for at least an hour. Let the flavor penetrate deep into the meat. Some liquid will probably be drawn from the meat because of the salt, which is expected. Pour out the liquid before moving the meat to the skillet. You don’t have to take it out of the fridge early, since we are just searing it.
2. Blend The Sauce
You don’t have to cut up your veggies finely at all. It was my first time with this blender, so I wanted to take it easy. Some liquid in the bottom helps the blender, so you can throw in some olive oil and yogurt before the veggies.
3. The Spices
What I’m about to say might be heresy, but here it goes: you probably don’t need all these spices. If you don’t have them already, then it’s going to cost you like $50 in spices alone. Garam masala actually has a lot of spices in it already. So you could just use garam masala, tumeric, curry powder, salt, and pepper. Also, anything with lots of spices and cream is going to be great, so don’t be afraid of not following the recipe.
4. The Rest
So, this is what your curry should look like before the finishing touches. Always taste your food before it’s too late!!! In this particular test, I used walnuts, which I found gave off a bitter flavor. I had to add more sugar and cream to cover that up.
That’s why I’m recommending you use pecans instead. Or almonds, but every korma recipe calls for almonds and I like to be different. I thought this was pretty delicious, but let me know below if you agree or disagree!
Beef Korma
Equipment
- 1 large pot
- 1 skillet
Ingredients
Meat Marinade
- 1 lb sirloin steak
- 3 tbsp yogurt
- salt
- pepper
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp curry powder
Blend The Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 white onion
- 2 shallots
- 2 jalapenos
- ¼ cup yogurt
- 4 garlic cloves
The Spices
- 1 tsp garam masala
- ¾ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp tumeric
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp coriander
- 2 tsp curry powder
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp salt
- â…“ tsp black pepper
The Rest
- ½ cup yogurt
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 tomatoes diced
- ½ cup pecans chopped
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 cups rice (optional)
Instructions
Meat Marinade
- Start by chopping up the steak into 1 inch chunks. Put in a container. Add spices and yogurt. Combine thoroughly. Put it in the fridge. Let it set for at least an hour.
Blend The Sauce
- Cut the veggies into quarters so they fit nicely in the blender. Pour olive oil in first. Then yogurt, then the veggies on top. Pulse into a liquid. If the blender is having trouble starting, add some water or milk.
- Add a little olive oil to the bottom of a large pot and heat on medium. Add your paste, add the spices, stir, and cook for 6 minutes.
- While cooking the paste, go ahead and start the steak. Add a little olive oil to the skillet and heat up on medium. Add the steak to the skillet. Sear the steak on every side, about 6 minutes. Take off heat.
The Rest
- Add the yogurt, heavy whipping cream, brown sugar and tomatoes to the paste. Turn heat to medium-low. Stir thoroughly. Cook until tomatoes have wilted, about 10 minutes. Taste and make any desired changes, more salt, sugar, etc.
- Add steak into curry, cook for another 3 minutes to combine flavors. Serve in bowls with a hearty scoop of rice on the side. Garnish with chopped pecan on top.
Nutrition
Get some spices yourself and start cooking! (doesn’t have to be here)
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