This is my variation on an old beef curry recipe from the Australia the Beautiful Cookbook, published in 1982 and sadly now out of print. The book is very “‘stralian” and I guess we as a nation don’t really eat like that anymore. It “Aussies up” some classic European dishes and brings back plenty of childhood memories with dishes like rissoles, shepherd’s pie (still a favourite) and jam roly poly.
While this beef curry does not profess to be anything like a true Indian curry, it is still delicious and simple to make. It’s fantastic if you’re short on preparation time and can leave it cook slowly in the oven or slow cooker while you do other things.
There’s certainly plenty of flavour for not a lot of effort. And you can feed the family or multiply the quantities and feed the masses. I still remember my mother hiring catering pots and cooking this up to serve 40 people for my 21st birthday party.
Ingredients
750g rump steak (you can also use round steak)
2 tbs peanut oil
1 brown onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbs ginger, finely chopped
2 tbs curry powder (I prefer Clive of India)
4–5 vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into wedges
1½ cups beef stock
3–4 kipfler potatoes, cut into 2–3cm chunks
Method
Trim the fat from the steak and cut it into 2–3cm chunks. Heat the oil in a casserole dish and brown the meat. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook until the onion starts to soften. Stir the curry powder through and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes and beef stock, stir and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat.
Return the meat to the pan and add the potato, stir through. Cover the casserole dish with a lid and bake in a moderate oven for 1–1½ hours, stirring occasionally. You may like to take the lid off the dish for the last 20–30 minutes of cooking time to reduce the amount of liquid.
Serves 4–6.
By cooking this for a long time the meat becomes so beautiful and tender. This dish is hearty comfort food, perfect for the cooler weather.