Beef Curry in my InstantPot...

My best recipe yet...

One of the things I miss about Hawaii is the food. It's not so haute (see what I did there? clever, ne?). In fact, it tends to be pretty basic. Teriyaki Beef, Roast Pork, Beef Stew, and occasionally something elaborate like Lemon Chicken, with a scoop of rice on the side, or for the sake of variety, two scoops of rice. Also, Macaroni Salad and even a little cup of kimchee. Very basic, heavy on the starches, and absolutely contraindicated if you are diabetic, have anyone in your family who is diabetic, or have ever heard of diabetes.

But it's delicious. So tasty. And so, as a treat for myself, I occasionally make something like that at home, but as always I tweak it to my own tastes, which makes it even yummier. And so I've come up with my own rendition of Zippy's Chili, which I will share with you (the secret is cinnamon), and a few other things--I've even figured out how to do quick malasadas that are totally cheating but still come darn close. And now this:

Paul's Expatriate Beef Curry

Cue the slack-key sitars, Phil....

Aloha, Brother Man and Miss Lady!

I did this one in my Instant Pot. That's an electronic pressure cooker that is easy and safe to use. Pressure cookers have a bad rep based on the first ones that came out in the 1930s...they are much better now, especially with the safety features and controls. That's why I use the Instant Pot. It cooks things much faster than regular techniques, but you can also do this recipe on a regular stove top or even in a slow cooker, though in the latter case you should do the browning and sauteing in something else and then through it all into the slow cooker and go from there.

Here's what you need....

Beef

I used a 2 or 2 and a half-pound Chuck Roast. It's big, cheap, and can be a bit tough (like some of my old girlfriends) but becomes tender and quite flavorful if properly handled (like some of my old girlfriends).  Chuck makes awesome beef stew or pot roast. I cut it up into squares. You can buy something called "Stew Meat" or "Beef for Stew" or like that, but if you cut it up it's a much better deal and you can cut it into cubes of much more consistent size. So that's what I do

I wanted to brown the beef cubes before stewing them, because they are much tastier that way. It's called the Maillot Reaction and it's Science, so do that. Beef doesn't brown well in liquid, do I browned it in small batches in my saute pan and then put the browned cubes and liquid in a bowl before wiping the saute pan and browning the next batch.

I have pictures:

This is the cut up chuck cubes being browned a few at a time.




Look! Browned beef. Notice the minimal liquid. That's why I do it in small batches.

Beautiful, is it not?

And here's the beef browned. I only browned the outside, just for flavor and color, since it's going to be cooked and cooked rather well before we are done,

Vegetables

So now the vegetables. I have a red onion (but use any onion you like), celery, carrot, and leek (which I have never seen used in the Islands. Like I said, very basic). I was going to add garlic, but I thought I had some but I did not. So no garlic. It turned out fine.

If you are not familiar with leeks, just be aware that they get sand and mud even between layers deep inside, and the green part is tough and bitter (man, I keep thinking of old girlfriends), so wash the white or very light green parts carefully, and finely mince them. Dice everything else.

"Is your knife sharp? Why isn't your knife sharp! My kitchen will NOT become the Last Refuge of the INCOMPETENT! GET OUT! NOW!"

That's how you yell at people if you're a chef. But really, do learn to properly sharpen your knives, and keep them sharp. Dull knives glance easily off vegetables but still slice easily into your fingers. Sharp knives are safer and easier. The time spent learning to keep them right is a good investment.

Here are the onion, carrot, celery, and leek. I used the whole onion, two carrots, minus a piece I gave to the Widow Ivy (my rabbit), two celery ribs, and the leek woithout the greener top shown upper felt above.

And here's what I did with them:

Kind of pretty. Vegetables are so beautiful.

Now comes cooking time: I'm using my InstantPot so I turn it onto "Saute"so I can saute stuff right in the pot:

I put oil in the pot (good Palestinian olive oil) and then put in some of this:

Black or Brown (same thing) Mustard Seed. The start of a good curry, as shared with me by a rather brilliant gentleman (Hi, Deelip!) put a tablespoon more or less in the hot oils, and then...

Yep, Bubba. Them there is Mustard Seeds? You ever seed mustard? Well, these here is black mustard seeds and they go pop!









After most of them mustard seeds have exploded their flavor into the oil, add the other veggies and saute them until they are soft.

We have two other major ingredients (or "ingrediments" if you're from Hawaii): 

Curry Powder and Coconut Milk.

A friend of mine from India was aghast at the idea of storebought curry powder. "My mother never bought that stuff," she said. It should always be made from fresh-ground spices!"

"How long did it take her to grind it all up?" I asked.

"Oh, the servants always did that."

So I use the canned stuff. The Sun Brand Madras Curry Powder is not only ubiquitous, but can be found anywhere.

The curry powder, while it does have a bite, is not amazingly hot. If you like it really hot, add a little cayenne pepper. Or a little more. I like it hot, but I had civilians that were going to eat this curry, so I forewent the cayenne. 

We'll get to the coconut milk later.

Add a bunch of the curry powder to the sauteed vegetables.

You can see curry powder on the edge of the pot. I threw in a lot. I threw it all over, because I am clumsy. The worst mistake you can make here is not enough curry powder. I used 4-5 tablespoons, or maybe more. I just covered the vegetables with a layer of curry powder.

Then continue to saute the vegetables with the curry powder. There should be plenty of oils and liquid from the vegetables. Keep stirring. we want to brown the curry powder a bit (Science again). And yes, it will start to stick to the bottom of your pot. Keep stirring. When you are pretty sure it's been browned a bit and a lot of it is sticking, it's time to....

Deglaze the Pot!

Which is fancy-sounding, but what you do is add a can of beef broth (I use Swanson's just like your Mom does). Add just enough to cover the bottom of the pot, and use a wooden spoon to get the tasty brown stuff stuck to the bottom off. It will come off easily. Once it's off, add the rest of the can of broth.

And there you go. Now add the beef....

"I love it when a plan comes together."












Now we are set to go. If you are using a slow cooker, set it up and turn it on. If you are cooking this on a stove top, bring it to a simmer and then cover it with a well-fitting lid and reduce the heat to let it stew for a couple of hours, stirring every so often.

But I am using the InstantPot, so I secure the lid, set the valve for pressure, and then hit the "Stew" button. It says "35 minutes" though you can adjust that. I left it at 35.

The pot will get up to temperature, the pressure of the steam will build up, and the safety lock will engage. Then it will cook your curry for 35 minutes. The whole idea is that at pressure the temperature can go as high as 270 F, instead of 212 F at normal pressure. so it cooks faster.

When the timer went off I chose to wait until the pressure went down naturally (15-20 minutes). I could have let the pressure out by turning the vent, but why? If you do do that, use a long wooden spoon to avoid scalding the shit out of your hand. Better to wait.

What about the coconut milk?

I stirred in about half a can of coconut milk. And wow!

The coconut milk adds smoothness, a tiny bit of sweetness, and lots of saturated fat. And makes it really, really perfect.

I served it on rice, of course...

The sauce was smooth and rich, but not too rich, the beef was amazingly flavorful and tender, and the spice was just perfect. Try it! You'll notice I did not give exact measurements. Just do what seems right. Make this dish your own.

I'm making kimchee too. Details in my next post!