How to cook a beef curry

With so many cuts of beef, it can be hard to know which is the best to add into your curry. Different cuts of beef need to be cooked differently to ensure that they retain their best flavours. After all, tender pieces with less connective tissues can become dry and overcooked in a curry because the sauce is often simmered for a long time. Beef curries tend to utilise cheaper cuts of beef that can handle a longer cooking time. We have recommended our favourite cuts of beef and which of our curries are the best for making a delicious beef curry.

Large pieces of a good braising steak is perfect for the Kashmiri Curry Pack. Keep the pieces quite big, a good 5cm cube to avoid it breaking up. Then you can cook it in the oven, preparing the sauce as normal - maybe with a little less water to make it thicker than usual - then add the meat, stir, cover and cook at 130 degrees for a couple of hours. If you then leave it overnight in the fridge you can remove any excess fat before reheating. This gives the curry more time to settle and the beef time to soak in all those flavours.

Another interesting cut is shin, it has a different texture but does become tender if cooked slowly. Kevin has curried short ribs before which he said were amazing but not to everyone's liking!

Minced beef is used to make the Kheema Madras which is a Fernandez family favourite. This traditional, hearty dish using minced beef and potato with our Madras Curry Pack is a must try as it's so versatile and flavoursome. A tip with mince would be to get the sauce thick and then on a high heat, add the mince and stir occasionally, breaking up the chunks. Then transfer to the oven for a slow cook (1 hour).

Another beefy option especially with the Malay Rendang is to thinly slice a sirloin steak across the grain and flash cook it in the hot sauce, leaving the meat pink so as not to dry it out.