We all love a curry and a beef curry with potatoes and a side of rice is definitely comfort food. Beef curry is popular in parts of Asia, it has always been popular in our home growing up and now me being a mom myself I love to cook this for my family too. I would choose a beef curry over most curries! The most tender pieces of meat, soft and full of flavor with perfectly cooked potatoes in a deliciously spiced gravy. I will be cooking this recipe in a pressure cooker to speed up the cooking process and also make it a easy to cook one pot recipe. Usually if you cook this in a sauce pot it takes a longer time to get the meat to become soft and tender so using the pressure cooker will reduce the cooking time by almost half.

Beef curries like most curries are served with rice, naan or roti’s. You could have other curries to complement this dish such as dhal which goes very well with beef curry. If you want you can cook this curry a day ahead and the curry will stay good in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Curries usually taste better the next day as the flavors blend and diffuse into the curry. If you do keep the curry in the fridge make sure to heat the curry up thoroughly.

More about the recipe

The kind of meat to use? Here I will be using a mix of bone in and boneless beef, reason being bone in beef has a lot more flavor and you get all that extra flavor while the meat is cooking especially in curries. So a combination is always good especially if someone prefers boneless. Keep the pieces 1 to 1 and a half inch size, usually your butcher will cut your meat to your preference.

Onions

In a beef curry you want to have extra onions to get the perfect gravy consistency. The onions are the base of the curry. So for 2lbs/1kg of beef I would use 2 large onions, roughly chopped as they will disintegrate during the cooking process.

Garlic ginger paste

You could use fresh or you could even use the store bought paste. Garlic and ginger give great depths of flavor to a curry. A teaspoon of each is the perfect quantity for this recipe.

Spices

Whole spices and ground spices. Beef really needs some spices to bring out the flavors and you don’t want a bland curry so a good selection of spices is essential. Here in this recipe I will be using turmeric, chili, coriander, cumin, curry powder and garam masala. A few whole spices like whole peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon stick, cardamom and bay leaf.

The spices will be cooked in with the beef, onions, ginger garlic paste, oil and salt for 5-6 minutes before the pressure cooker is locked on. It’s important to cook the spices at this point as it will remove the raw flavor from spices.

Potatoes and tomatoes

Once the beef is cooked under pressure then the potatoes and tomatoes will be added. You can decide on the quantity of potatoes to use. Some people usually like having more potatoes so you can adjust to your preference. I usually go for 5-6 medium sized potatoes, peel and cut them in half. The potatoes are cooked until just soft and this is usually done during the simmering process which is 15-20 minutes.

Tomatoes add to the extra flavor, so two medium sized or 3 small tomatoes cut into wedges.

Water

The beef curry needs water to make up the gravy. There is enough spices and ingredients to get a really good gravy so once the potatoes and tomatoes are added and initially cooked for 2-3 minutes on a high flame then 2-3 cups of hot water is added and the curry needs to come to a boil and then the simmering process starts. Some water will be released by the meat and potatoes but you may want to add a little more to get the perfect consistency. Not too runny and not too dry. Remember the potatoes will also take up quite a bit of liquid during the cooking process. Also the simmering process will evaporate some of the liquid too.

Fresh cilantro

Fresh cilantro is a must in a curry. You just can’t do without it. The fresh cilantro gives it that pop of color and the great flavor which is perfect in Indian cooking.

Enjoy and serve hot with rice, naan bread or roti’s!

Easy and simple pressure cooker Beef curry with potatoes

Recipe by Shema Course: MainCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4-6

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

A easy beef curry with potatoes

Ingredients

• 2 lbs/1 kg beef (bone in and boneless) 1-1 and 1/2 inch in size
  

• 1/4 cup cooking oil
  

• 2 large onions roughly chopped
  

• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
  

• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
  

• 3 teaspoons salt
  

• Whole spices (5-6 peppercorns, 2-3 cardamom or 1 black cardamom, 1 bay leaf, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise
  

• Ground Spices

• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  

• 2 teaspoons chili powder (adjust to preference)
  

• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
  

• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
  

• 1 teaspoon curry powder
  

• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
  

• 1/2 cup hot water before locking the pressure cooker on
  

• 5-6 medium sized potatoes peeled and cut in half
  

• 2-3 tomatoes cut into wedges
  

• 2-3 cups hot water for gravy
  

• Handful of freshly cut cilantro
  

Directions

• In a pressure cooker add in the oil, beef pieces, onions, ginger garlic paste, salt, whole spices and ground spices
• Turn the flame on to medium high and mix everything in very well
• Let that cook for 5-6 minutes, add 1/4 cup of hot water and close the pressure cooker lid and wait til the cooker reaches the optimal pressure (use your pressure cooker manual for instructions) then turn to medium flame and put a timer on for 20 minutes
• After 20 minutes release the pressure from the pressure cooker following your manual and take off the lid, stir everything together, the beef should be soft and tender by this time
• From this point you will not need to cook with the pressure cooker locked just regular cooking process. Add in the potatoes and tomatoes, stirring in well and turning the flame to high and cook for 2-3 minutes
• Add in 2-3 cups of water this usually depends on how you prefer the consistency of the curry to be, stir
• Bring the curry to a boil on high flame then simmer on medium low flame for 15-20 minutes. You should see the oil come to the surface of the curry and this is a good indication that the curry is done
• Taste for salt and add more salt if required
• Garnish with chopped cilantro and take the pressure cooker off the heat
• Serve hot with rice and a side of dhal

Notes

• Once the curry is cooled you can transfer into a airtight container and keep any leftovers in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.