IHCC Potluck - Indian Beef with Peas

Sometimes the universe offers up a grand set of coincidences. Do you believe that?  I do, and here's a little coincidence that brought together three of my favorite cooks and cook book authors.

This humble Indian dish doesn't look like much, but boy, what a nice spicy kick it has! In that sauce that's wrapped around the minced beef and vegetables, there lurks ginger, garam masala, coriander, cumin, garlic, and lime flavours! Plop this warm slurry atop a mound of steamed rice, add a nice dollop of mango chutney on the side and you will have a bowl of Indian comfort food that will make the chilliest, most rainy and raw fall evening retreat to the corners of your mind!

I found this recipe in Diana Henry's cookbook called Plenty. She comments that her recipe is an adaptation of a Madhur Jaffrey recipe from her cookbook called Indian Cookery. Madhur called her recipe Kheema Matar. Diana calls her recipe Indian Beef with Peas. As I read Diana's recipe, it stirred memories of another recipe in a Nina Simonds cookbook called Asian Noodles. Nina calls her recipe Chinese Curry Noodles, but she states clearly that rice can be used in lieu of noodles. Simonds's recipe swaps out the tomato paste and brings in soy sauce. These recipes have the same feel to them and I chuckled over the coincidence, as I went about putting together the Diana Henry dish together for this week's I Heart Cooking Potluck entry.

How strange that Diana and Madhur have joined forces to give me a super supper ... I'll take it, though! I loved it with simple rice and that sweet tangy hit of the mango chutney that I plopped on the side of the bowl. Totally tasty!

My only question about this recipe was ... how can beef be a prominent ingredient in an Indian dish? I thought the cow was a sacred animal in India? It must have its roots in the colonial influences of the British. That's the only thing I can think of on this one. Doing a bit of research, I found that traditional Kheema Matar is made with ground lamb. Somewhere in the move from India to the UK, the beef made the swap. Mystery solved ...

Here's the recipe I followed ... and the bowl of comfort food as it came straight from the stove ...

Indian Beef with Peas

 a Diana Henry recipe from Plenty

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. peanut oil

1 ½ lb. ground beef (leaner mince)

2 onions, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch ginger root, peeled and grated

2 green, hot chilis, seeded and de-veined, finely chopped

1 tsp. ground coriander

2 tsp. ground cumin

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

1 ½ c. beef stock

1 heaping tbsp. tomato paste

A generous pinch dark brown sugar

Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

1 ½ c. frozen peas

6 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp. garam masala

Steamed rice for serving with the beef

A fruity, tart chutney for a side condiment ( mango is excellent!)

Making the Dish:

1. Heat the oil in a deep fry pan that has a cover. Add the beef and break it into bite-sized chunks. Brown it over medium-high heat until it is crisped and brown.
2. Spoon the beef into a bowl and set aside. Add the chopped onion and sweat it until it is translucent.
3. Add the garlic, ginger, chiles, coriander, cumin, and cayenne and stir together. Continue cooking for 1 minute.
4. Return the beef and its juice to the pan. Add ⅔ of the prepared beef broth and the tomato paste. Stir together to break up the paste and distribute the beef through the vegetable and spice slurry.
5. Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring once in a while so things don’t stick.
6. Prepare the rice while the beef is simmering. After 30 minutes, add the peas and remaining beef broth and cook for 10 minutes more.
7. Just before serving, stir in the lime juice, garam masala, and chopped cilantro.
8. Mound the steamed rice in a bowl, spoon over some beef and peas, and have a generous dollop of cold chutney on the side.

This post is added as a link at the I Heart Cooking Club's Potluck ... check out the rest of the dishes! You're welcome to join us anywhere along our journey, as we explore Diana Henry's take on food and revisit the other cooks and chefs that we've honored over the past few years! The more the merrier!