Al's Kitchen Beef Madras Masala (Slow Cooker)

Source video by Al's Kitchen on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules.

Al builds the masala on the hob first, finely dicing two onions and frying them till golden in oil, then frying the garlic-ginger paste and a heavy hand of spices (a tablespoon each of extra hot chilli powder, garam masala and mild Madras curry powder, plus turmeric, mustard seeds, blitzed green chillies and tomato puree) for a minute each. Blended plum tomatoes go in, then a tin of coconut milk and the kilo of diced beef. Al says on camera you can cook this in the slow cooker for around 6 hours; that's the version we follow. Yoghurt, single cream, sugar and salt go in at the end, and fresh coriander finishes.

Ingredients

• 1 kglean diced beef, diced into roughly 2 cm pieces

• vegetable oil
• 2medium onions, diced really fine
• 2 tbspblended garlic and ginger paste

• 1 tbspextra hot chilli powder
• 1 tspground turmeric
• 6small green chillies, blitzed
• 1 tbspgaram masala
• 1 tspyellow mustard seeds
• 1 tbspmild Madras curry powder

• 400 gblended tinned plum tomatoes, blended smooth
• 2 tsptomato puree
• 440 gcoconut milk

• 1 tspsalt (add late)
• 1 tspsugar (add late)
• 2 tbspnatural Greek yoghurt (add late)
• 2 tbspsingle cream (add late)

• fresh coriander, chopped (add late)
• fresh root ginger, very finely sliced into blades (add late)
• hot green chillies, sliced (add late)

Method

1. Heat enough vegetable oil to cover the base of a frying pan over high heat. Tip in the finely diced onions and fry for about 5 minutes until soft and golden.

   ~5 min

2. Stir in the 2 tbsp of blended garlic-ginger paste. Cook for 1 minute.

   ~1 min

3. Add the yellow mustard seeds, turmeric, extra hot chilli powder, garam masala, mild Madras powder and the blitzed green chillies. Cook for 1 minute, stirring; add a splash of water if anything sticks. Don't burn the spices.

   ~1 min

4. Stir in the blended plum tomatoes and the tomato puree. Mix through.

   ~1 min

5. Pour in the whole tin of coconut milk. Stir until the masala is uniform; the colour will go pink-salmon at this stage and deepens as it cooks.

   ~1 min

6. Tip the masala into the slow cooker. Add the kilo of diced beef and stir to coat.

   ~2 min

7. Lid on. Cook on Low for 6 hours (or High 4 hours). Don't open the lid in between.

   ~360 min

8. Stir in 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of sugar, 2 tbsp of natural Greek yoghurt and 2 tbsp of single cream. Stir half the chopped coriander through.

   ~2 min

9. Plate. Scatter over a few fine blades of root ginger, the sliced green chillies and the remaining coriander.

   ~2 min

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