Recipe for :

This recipe comes from Ria Patel. Ria lives in Bangalore, India. She has no formal training in cooking but has learnt mostly from watching her mother cooking at home.

Her father was a Parsi (Zoroastrian), her mother is half Bengali (from Bengal) and half Malayali (from Kerala) and her husband is from Kerala. This interesting mix in her family has led to her becoming familiar with various cuisines from India - each region of India has its own special cuisine, and its own choice of spices and flavors.

Ria has worked in publishing mostly and cooking remains a strong hobby. Mostly, she cooks because she enjoys it and loves to have friends over to try out new dishes. Her favourite dishes to cook are curries of all kinds - mutton curry, fish curry, chicken curry and shrimp curry. She also loves Biryani which is basically any meat or vegetable cooked in spices and layered with rice. She has a collection of recipes from friends and family, some of which have being passed down through the generations, and she looks forward to sharing them.

Ingredients

2 lb cubed beef or veal (small cubes)
3 Red onions, chopped
6 - 8 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 Tablespoon of grated ginger
4 - 5 curry leaves
4 green cardamoms
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
3 green chillies, slit
2 Tablespoons of Oil
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 Cups of coconut milk
Fried Onions and chopped fresh coriander leaves for garnishing.
Salt to taste

• Grind the fresh garlic and ginger together and marinate the cubed meat in this for an hour.

• Heat the oil, add the cardamom pods, mustard seeds and when they splutter, add the curry leaves, green chillies and finally the chopped onions.

• Fry the onions until they are golden brown.

• Add the marinated meat. Brown the meat, continuously stirring for about 10 minutes.

• Add salt to taste.

• Mix all the powdered spices in a bowl and add a cup of hot water. Pour this into the frying meat and stir it in.

• Cover the dish and cook on a simmered flame until you see the oil separate from the meat. If the meat is not tender yet, add a little more hot water, and continue to cover and cook a while longer.

• Add the coconut milk and let it cook for 5 - 6 minutes. Do not let this boil.

• Garnish with 1 tablespoon of fried onions and chopped coriander leaves.

Serves 4 - 6

Ria Patel