Beef Curry/ Beef Bhuna , Bangladeshi way

Beef Curry/ Beef Bhuna , Bangladeshi way

Ingredients:

Beef 1 kg
Onion Paste half cup
Onion, sliced half cup
Ginger paste 2 tbl spoon
garlic paste 1 tbl spoon
Turmeric powder a little more than half teaspoon
Chili Powder to taste ( in my family we love to eat hot, spicy beef, I took 1 level tbl spoon of chili powder )
Coriander Powder half teaspoon
Cinnamon
Cardamom pods 3/4
2/3 bay leaves
Oil
Salt to taste
Special Garam masala Powder

For 1 kg meat , here’s the measurement of SPECIAL GARAM MASALA:

Dried red chili 1 or 2
Cumin 1 teaspoon
Whole coriander 1 teaspoon
Cardamom 3
Cinnamon a small 1 inch stick
Black pepper half teaspoon
Cloves 7/8
Fennel Seed a little less than 1 teaspoon
Mace half teaspoon ( optional)

Dry roast them. I Microwave them for 40-45 second.Then Crush them into a fine smooth powder.

Procedure:

1. Wash the meat and drain out the water well . Now marinate the meat with all the ingredients , except sliced onion and oil.

2. Heat oil in the pot . Add the sliced onion and fry them until brown . Don’t make it too dark , u may end up cooking dark colored beef bhuna . The color of the meat depends on this. So fry them until they are brown . In Bangla what we call “bereshta” or fried onion.

3. Now add the meat with marinade into the pot . Mix well with bereshta . Give 1/4 th cup of water and cover the lid . Cook the meat on medium-low flame for about 20/30 minutes or until the water is dried out . The meat will release water . So wait until the water dries out . Cook well, adding water little by little . Don’t burn the meat on the bottom, so be careful . Check every 10 minutes . But you have to cook well adding water little by little , what we call in Bangla “Koshano”. The flavor of bhuna beef depends on this “koshano”. I do it for at least 1 hour .

4. After one hour of “Koshano” , add enough hot water to cover the meat . Cover the lid and let it cook on medium flame until the meat is tender and the gravy comes to desired consistency.Put it on very low flame for another 5 minutes ( which we call to keep on dom) , oil will separate. Turn off the stove and put the meat on the stove with lid on .

Ready!

Notes:

1. Raw papaya is meat tenderizer, so you may add 2 tbl spoon of papaya paste to the recipe.

2. For the better taste, always chose good quality meat . Many of us take out the fat and throw away the bones from meat . DON”T DO THIS !!!!!!!! Bones and little bit of meat fat enhances the taste . So try to keep some bones and little bit of beef fat while cooking Desi style beef bhuna ..

3. Some like the dry roasted cumin flavor in their curry. You may add few pinches ofdry roasted cumin powder at the end, but be careful , you ruin the color and flavor of the meat if added more.

4. The taste of the beef bhuna or curry depends on how long you cook it . “Koshano” is very important . My Mom’s beef bhuna is very famous and she taught me that one magic trick of mind blowing flavor of Beef bhuna, and the trick is “Koshano”. The more ” Koshano” , the More ” Moja” ( tasty) . Do it for at least 1 hour . The more the better !!!!!!!!