Bombay Beef Madras Recipe - The Spice People (2024)

For every single person who loves Indian cuisine, the Beef Madras Curry is a definite must-try! Sporting all the qualities of the quintessential, spice packed Indian dish, Madras beef curry or Bombay beef is a curry that you cannot afford to miss.

With a combination of all the right spices, this slow-cooked beef dish brings in a spicy and hot flavour along with a slightly tangy and pungent undertone, thanks to the goodness of all the spices. The perfectrecipecan guarantee a gala for your taste buds. The curry, that is, the base of this dish, can be paired either with beef, or even any other meat, and even vegetables if you prefer so.

The addition of coconut cream will give a mild and sweeter curry sauce if desired.

Main Spices Used In This Recipe

Madras recipes are most often associated with heat usually emanating from the dried and green chillies added. Each spice used lends its distinct aromas thereby making the dish burst with flavours. This Madras curry is pretty versatile as you can replace beef with lamb or pork too.

Though pungent, the combination of the different spices used makes thisBeef Madras Curry Recipeactually quite delicious. Generally, the spices are first to dry roasted to release their flavours and then ground to a fine powder-like consistency. There are different versions of this dish. An authentic one usually incorporates the following blend of spices:

Coriander Seeds:

Coriander is extensively used to flavour curries. This recipe uses this spice in both, its fresh and whole forms. Coriander leaves are used towards the end of the cooking process, to garnish the dish. Coriander seeds are plump and brown in colour. They have a hollow cavity bearing essential oils which get released once roasted and ground. These seeds also have health benefits as they help tackle diabetes, ease digestion, facilitate hair growth and keep a check on cholesterol levels.

Black Peppercorns:

These are actually dried berry. It is recommended that you buy whole peppercorns and crush them at home. This will ensure they last longer and retain their flavour. Store them in an airtight container in a cool, dry and dark place. This spice helps relieve colds and cough, stimulates digestion and enables weight loss.

Fennel Seeds:

In size and shape, they resemble cumin but, fennel is a different spice altogether that adds a nice punch to thebeef Madras curry recipe. In addition, it helps regulate blood pressure, reduces water retention, helps purify the blood and improves eyesight.

Fenugreek Seeds:

Fenugreek seeds have a somewhat bitter taste. While cooking, it is often included as an ingredient in spice blends. Fenugreek has numerous health benefits like it improves digestive problems and cholesterol levels, reduces inflammation, increases one appetite and helps improve blood sugar.

Cloves:

This aromatic spice found in whole and ground forms are used to season both savoury and sweet dishes. Cloves contain fibre, vitamins and minerals so besides adding flavour to your food, they also provide important nutrients. They are low in calories and high in antioxidants.

Dried Red Chillies:

Dried chillies are extensively used as a spice in curried dishes. It is also used as an ingredient in curry powder and in seasonings. Each chilly has its distinct flavour and heat intensity. Combining chillies in a dish can increase their flavour complexity. Some chillies when consumed, produce sharp sensations at the back of the throat while others ignite a lingering low intensity burning sensation on the tongue.

Nutmeg:

Nutmeg comes with a flavourful, dark red coloured covering. This covering is called mace. Both nutmeg and mace are cooked and dried till they turn golden-orange.

It has a warm flavour that lasts much forever. Hence, it is added in the last so that the flavour of the curry lasts longer.

Coriander:

This is one of the most used Indian spices and is known for its ridged texture and a golden-yellow colour. Coriander seeds have a rich aroma of citrus notes.

The whole coriander is grounded to prepare a fine powder, which is then added to the curry. You need to dry-roast coriander till it turns light golden-brown in colour.

There are other spices too that are added to this dish. Black pepper, cinnamon, aisle, and chilli paprika are the other spices added to it. Savouring this spicy concoction with rice and yoghurt, will help soothe your palate.

Key Considerations Before Preparing Beef Madras Curry Recipe

All great Indian curries including thebeef Madras curry recipebegin by frying onions, ginger and garlic in a mixture of oil and clarified butter until caramelised. Before cooking this recipe, take into account the following:

Availability of the Right Spices:

To ensure the meat is tender, such types of dishes are best cooked in a pressure cooker with the right ingredients, primarily spices. The main spices to be added to your recipe are cumin seeds, turmeric ground, coriander ground, Indian garam masala, black pepper, Australian sea salt, and chilli powder. You must use fresh spices to get authentic flavours. Ground spices are mostly preferred for Indian curries like Madras beef curry. You can source from a trusted online store. The best way is to find a genuine spice mix having all these spices ground and roasted in a single pack for ease of adding to your dish.

Source Meat on the Bone:

Buy a fleshy chunk of beef on the bone, sufficient to feed the entire family. Request your butcher to cut the beef into fairly big pieces. Minute pieces will result in the meat completely shredding once it is cooked through. This also happens as theBeef Madras curry reciperequires slow cooking over a long period. There are chances of the meat remaining raw or tough if not adequately cooked. Cooking with the meat on the bone will add depths of flavour to your gravy dish. Also, the size of the cooked meat pieces should satisfy the hungry mouths being fed.

Defrost the Frozen Stock:

This recipe is best cooked in stock rather than plain water, for an added burst of flavour. If you already have leftover stock in your freezer, ensure you thaw it completely so that it can be added to the beef subsequently. In the absence of beef stock, even chicken or vegetable stock will suffice as both lend a unique taste to the end product. You may also resort to stock cubes or source readymade stock cans for this recipe. While doing so, just remember to tone down the amount of salt you eventually add to your recipe as readymade stock and stock cubes are inherently salty. You do not want to land up with an excessively salty curry at the end of your cook.

The preparation involved prior to cooking a recipe is crucial in determining how the end result will pan out. Source your ingredients, peel, cut and chop, in advance to avoid any calamities during the actual cooking process.

Additional Tips to Master this Recipe

Hereare a few additional tips that will ensure you get an unforgettable aroma and flavour.

Toast the Spices:

The trick of this recipe lies in its toast dried spices over medium heat that bring out the fragrance and the flavour. Toasting is also a good practice before making any curry because it removes all moisture and makes them easy to grind. All you need to do is add all the spices to a dry frying pan over medium heat and lightly stir them for a few minutes till you can smell the aroma. Don’t toast for more than 3-4 minutes. Once they are done, just add them to a mixer grinder or a mortar and pestle to grind the mix.

Frying the Onions:

As is with most curry-based Indian dishes, the first step in its preparation is to fry the onions to set the foundation of your curry. Fry the onions till they turn golden brown following which you can add green chillies, garlic, and ginger to add more flavour. Then follow the remaining steps in preparation of your beef curry.

Serving Techniques:

Once your beef curry is fully cooked, you can serve it with flatbread or rice. However, rotis or flatbread are a preferred accompaniment to the curry because they allow you to mop up this wonderful sauce with each bite. You can also serve a salad of tomatoes, onions, and cucumber to enhance the taste. Just add a pinch of salt and squeeze half a lemon to make them zesty. You can also serve yogurt along with the curry.

Make the Curry a Day Earlier:

Another trick to make your curries taste better is to make them ahead of the time. So, if you are planning to serve beef Madras curry for dinner next week, then make it a night before so that all the flavours are released and round out the taste. The experts always recommend making a double batch of curry that you can eat for the next few days after making it. You can freeze it in your refrigerator and simply thaw and heat it up when you feel like eating this rich curry.

Preparing delicious curries don’t have to be a hectic task. While there are no standard rules on curry preparation, these simple tricks will have you cook up your favourite curry in no time.

If you’re new to spice blending, let us do the hard work for you. We have two authentic blends available:Curry Madras Mild BlendandCurry Bombay Madras Hot.

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