Slow Cooker Beef Madras Curry (Chef Jack Ovens)

Source video by Chef Jack Ovens on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules.

A proper beef Madras adapted from Chef Jack Ovens' hob recipe into the slow cooker. Chuck steak is seared hard in ghee, then cumin seeds and bay leaves toast in the same pan with a second slick of ghee. Onion softens, garlic and ginger join in, and a Madras spice mix of ground cumin, coriander, garam masala, chilli and turmeric goes in to bloom. A tin of diced tomatoes deglazes the lot, the beef goes back in with enough water to cover, and the whole pan tips into the slow cooker for the long haul. Serve over basmati rice with toasted roti and fresh coriander.

Ingredients

• 1 kgchuck steak, cut into 4 cm chunks
• 28 gghee or clarified butter, split across two uses

• 1brown or yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced into half-moons
• 3garlic cloves, grated on the large side of a box grater
• 35 gfresh ginger, peeled and grated

• 3 gwhole cumin seeds
• 3dried bay leaves
• 3 gground cumin
• 2.5 gground coriander
• 4.5 ggaram masala
• 1.5 gKashmiri chilli powder
• 2 gground turmeric
• fresh curry leaves

• 400 gtinned diced tomatoes
• hot water, enough to cover the beef in the slow cooker

• sea salt flakes
• cracked black pepper

• 200 gbasmati rice, washed; cooked separately on the hob with 520 ml water, half a cinnamon stick and salt
• roti or naan bread, toasted
• fresh coriander, leaves picked

Method

1. Heat a large heavy pan over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of ghee and let it melt. Sear the chuck steak in batches for about 4 minutes per batch, moving it often, until well browned on all sides. Lift onto a plate to rest.

   ~10 min

2. Drop the heat to medium. Tip in the cumin seeds and bay leaves, then the second tablespoon of ghee. Toast for about 1 minute (use the melting ghee as a timer) until the seeds are golden and cracking.

   ~1 min

3. Add the sliced onion. Sauté for 4 minutes, stirring frequently, scraping up the brown bits left from the beef.

   ~4 min

4. Add the grated garlic and ginger and sauté for another minute, stirring constantly so they do not catch.

   ~1 min

5. Add the ground cumin, coriander, garam masala, Kashmiri chilli and turmeric. Toast for 45 seconds, stirring the whole time. Add curry leaves now if using.

   ~1 min

6. Pour in the tinned tomatoes and bring to a boil, stirring to deglaze. Season with salt.

   ~3 min

7. Return the seared beef and any resting juices to the pan. Tip the lot into the slow cooker.

   ~1 min

8. Pour in enough hot water to just cover the beef. Stir and check the seasoning.

   ~1 min

9. Lid on. Cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 5 hours, until the beef is just holding together but melt-in-the-mouth.

   ~480 min

10. Cook the basmati rice in the last 20 minutes on the hob: combine the rinsed rice, 520 ml cold water, half a cinnamon stick and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Boil, cover, simmer on low for 14 minutes, then rest off the heat covered for 4 more. Discard the cinnamon, fluff with a fork.

    ~20 min

11. Taste the curry and adjust salt. If the gravy is too thick, loosen with a splash of hot water.

    ~1 min

12. Spoon the curry over the rice, with toasted roti or naan on the side and a scatter of fresh coriander.

    ~2 min

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