Thursday 2 February 2017

Tomatoless Beef and Squash Curry

I've a friend who has certain food allergies with one of them oddly being the tomato. He has to be the only person I know that can't eat this fruit which is evident in everything from soups to casseroles.

I've a great recipe which uses yoghurt as the main base for the sauce, a twist on a Rogan Josh, but even that uses tomato paste to colour and flavour. Thinking along the same lines, the curry I ended up with uses a rich paste of onion, garlic, chilli and ginger, lots of Indian spice and tamarind pulp, a sweet and sour fruit available in good Asian stores and one heavily used in Keralan food in south India.

The verdict? For something so simple and easy to make, it was delicious; hot, pungent, spicy and slightly sweet, the tomato wasn't missed one bit and it completely took me by surprise, becoming one of the best curries I've ever made. Try it this weekend; it will put smiles on faces, even ones with certain food allergies.

Tomatoless Beef and Squash Curry

Feeds 4

2 onions, peeled
1 thumb size of ginger, peeled
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 red chilli, deseeded
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
2 bay leaves
600g stewing beef cut into large chunks
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and sliced thin
200ml tamarind water (use concentrated tamarind paste)
Water
Salt and pepper

1 - Pre-heat the oven to 160C/GM3. Put the onions, ginger, garlic and chilli into a blender. Blend to a paste.
2 - Heat up the oil in a flame-proof casserole dish. Add the paste and cook for 5-10 minutes until it begins to colour. Stir in the spices and cook for a further minute.
3 - Stir in the beef and thoroughly combine with the spiced paste. Cook for 5 minutes until the beef browns.
4 - Add the tamarind water and a little more water to just cover. Bring to the boil then place into the oven and cook for 2 hours. Check on the hour to ensure it isn't cooking dry; you may need to add a drop or two of water. Add the squash at this point too. The finished product should have a light gravy rather than be watery. Continue to cook if it is too watery.
4 - Remove the bay leaves and taste for seasoning. Serve with plain boiled basmati rice, chutney, fresh mint and/or coriander and Indian breads.

8 comments:

William Leigh said...

Sounds lovely mate, will give this one a whirl when I'm back

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Sounds delicious David:D Very heartwarming.

Helen said...

Yum, I will too give it a go. I immediately thought of rendang when you said tomato-less curry too and funnily enough Will's recipe is the best I've ever tasted.

Cookware Hampshire said...

This sounds amazing. I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to spicy curry, but this sounds right up my street... Something I'm sure my friends will appreciate one weekend. Any particular serving suggestions at all?

David Hall said...

Hi CH

When you say serving suggestions do you mean accompaniments? Rice, bread and chutneys all the way if so! Maybe a raita. Thanks for stopping by.

David

Cookware Hampshire said...

That's what I meant yes! Thanks for the tip. I think I'l be using this to impress the girlfriend on Saturday... Keep up the good work!

Mamta said...

Your Tomatoless Beef and Squash Curry sounds very lovely. I love squash and pumpkins, but have not cooked them with meat yet. People don't believe me when I say that you can make very good curries curries without adding tomtoes, replacing them with other souring agents like tamarind/yoghurt/vinegar/lemon/lime etc.
Since your beef curry is in South Indian style, I wonder if it will taste even better if you 'tempered' it with a few black mustard seeds and curry leaves at the end!
Mamta

Jan said...

Sounds scrummy, David, but it will have to wait until winter before I give it a try. It's miserably hot here right now, 35C and the humidity puts the heat index at 46C.

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