Hi, my name is Taylor, and I am a curry addict. It’s been one hour since I last ate curry. I’ve been eating curry for about 10, maybe 12 years now, with no end in sight. But what can I do when I smell that divine mix of spices from some far away land that makes me feel all warm and cozy on a cold winter’s night?
I might be a bit of an oddity in that my ultimate comfort food is a warm bowl of curry over rice. Some people eat mac and cheese, or a bowl of chili, or perhaps a grilled cheese. For me, nothing is more satisfying than a meaty, saucey bowl of curry to clear out my sinuses and fill my stomach. I usually go for a chicken garam masala or tikka masala, but the other night I was craving beef so much that I decided to try out a rogan josh. I don’t really know how to describe the differences in flavour, other than to say that rogan josh is sort of a darker brown-red curry with little or no dairy added, where a tikka is lighter red and often contains cream.
Here’s my recipe:
INGREDIENTS
2 Large steaks, fat trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp ground fresh ginger
1-2 tbsp cooking oil
Rogan Josh spice mix [I adapted a version of Jamie Oliver’s spice combo here: https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/lamb-recipes/rogan-josh ] – My changes: I didn’t have cloves, so I added a dash of nutmeg. I also substituded cardamom pods for 1 tsp ground cardamom
1 can tomato puree
1 – 1 1/2 cups beef stock
1/3 cup raisins, 1/3 cup chopped dried apricots [optional]
salt and pepper to taste
brown sugar
fresh cilantro [optional, for topping]
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds [optional, for topping]
METHOD
1. In a food processor, blend garlic, ginger, and onion until puree’d and smooth. Heat cooking oil in a heavy-bottomed deep saucepan, and saute the puree until cooked through and clear. Add in spice blend, and allow to combine into a paste until it begins sweating out natural oils.
2. Pour in tomato puree and stir to blend into a smooth sauce. Add in beef, and stir around to coat in the sauce. Once coated and has begun cooking, slowly add beef stock in increments until your sauce achieves your desired consistency. If you are adding in dried fruits, add a bit extra as the fruits will absorb some of the liquids when they reconstitute.
3. Allow curry to simmer, about 20-25 minutes. Taste the sauce, and add in just enough brown sugar to counteract the acidity of the tomato puree. Add in dried fruits if you like, and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes on a low heat.
4. To serve, pour a helping of curry over rice in a bowl; sprinkle with cilantro, almonds, and enjoy!
Excuse the poor photography, this was taken using my phone at 9:00pm when I was finally able to sit down and devour my curry.
