I normally make curry sauces thickened with yoghurt but this delicious Goan-style beef curry is made primarily with rich beef stock and coconut (toddy) vinegar. Chunks of beef are braised in the spiced stock and reduced to a dark, silky sauce that has a pleasant background heat from black pepper and whole dried Kashmiri chillies. Paired with black cardamon-infused basmati rice and a fresh catchcumber salad, it’s definitely a new supper favourite.

Serves 4

• 1.5 kg beef shin or stewing steak cut into large chunks
• 2 tbsps light cooking oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 25g fresh ginger
• 4 tsps ground black pepper
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 cloves
• 4 whole dried Kashmiri chillies
• 2 bay leaves
• 5cm stick of cinnamon
• 1 tbsp toddy vinegar – I use the Coconut Company, easy to buy online from amazon. You could use wine vinegar but the flavour is better with coconut vinegar. You can use it in lots of Asian-style dressings and sauces so it’s worth investing in a bottle.
• 1 litre of beef stock – I used Knorr gel rich beef stockpot
• Catchcumber salad: 1/2 finely sliced red onion, 1 large tomato cut into small chunks, 1/3rd of a cucumber – de-seeded and cut into half moons, 1 handful of finely chopped fresh coriander, the juice of a lemon, 1 pinch of chilli power, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp salt. Prep and mix in a medium sized bowl

To make…

• Layer the beef evenly over the base of a cast iron casserole dish.
• Peel the garlic and ginger and make into a paste in a mini food processor or grate finely.
• Heat the oil in a sauce pan, add the cinnamon stick and then gently fry the onion for 10 minutes until lightly caramelised.
• Add the ginger and garlic paste, stir and fry for a minute or two. Add the tomato paste, cook it out for another few minutes. Add the salt and dry spices, chilli, bay leaves and cloves. Stir and add the vinegar and stock. Bring to a simmer and then pour over the beef.
• Put the lid on the casserole and cook in a low oven (140C) for about 3 hours. The meat should be meltingly tender and the sauce nice and thick. If the sauce needs to be reduced, pour it off into a saucepan, boil it rapidly to reduce and pour back over the meat to serve.
• Serve with basmati rice cooked with a black cardamon pod in the cooking water and the catchcumber salad.

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