Meat Masala
FoodieChief's Meat Masala along with the epic Karahi Gosht were staple dishes at FoodieChief's restaurant, The Bombay Palace in Batley, West Yorkshire.This dish is a deeply flavoured, meaty dish in a rich tomato-based sauce. It's perfect for a special celebratory meal such as Eid or dawats.
Ingredients
Stage 1: Meat cooking ingredients
- 1 kg boneless beef/lamb/mutton cut into small pieces, we use boneless beef from Hill Farm Finest
- 1 medium onion, finely sliced
- 3 tbsp oil
- ½ tsp whole cumin seeds
- 1½ tsp garlic, finely diced
- 1 tsp ginger, finely diced
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 whole bay leaf (optional)
- ½ tsp salt
Stage 2: Masala Ingredients
- 2 medium onions, finely diced
- 1 tbsp ginger, diced
- 1 tbsp garlic, diced
- ½ tsp green chilli, minced
- 4 tbsp oil
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1½ tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp tumeric powder
- 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
- 2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli paste (see our Tandoori Chicken recipe for the Kashmiri chilli paste recipe, alternatively use 1½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder)
- 1 tin plum tomatoes, pureed in a blender
- 1½ tbsp yogurt
- salt, to taste
Garnishes
- julienne ginger
- coriander leaves
- sliced green chilli (optional)
- sauteed onions and red/green peppers, (optional)
Instructions
Cooking the Meat
- Dry roast cumin seeds until the seeds get a slight colour and give off a nutty aroma.
- Once the cumin becomes fragrant add the oil.
- Followed by the onions and the bay leaf and saute.
- Once the onions soften and pick up a little colour it is time to add the garlic and ginger.
- Saute the garlic and ginger until they become fragrant, then add the salt and turmeric powder.
- Followed by the cubed pieces of meat and mix to coat the meat in the spices.
- Cook using a lid on high heat for the first 10 minutes, then turn down the heat to cook until the meat becomes succulent.
- After 10 minutes the meat will start to release moisture, reduce the heat to low and cook until soft. If you are using a mature animal such as mutton or beef you may need to add ½ cup hot/boiling water and cook until the meat becomes tender.
Cooking the Masala
- Heat the oil, add cumin seeds and the dried fenugreek leaves.
- Fry the cumin seeds and fenugreek leaves for 30 seconds and then add the diced onions.
- Saute the onions until they become golden brown.
- Add the garlic and ginger, saute until they lose their rawness and become fragrant.
- Add the turmeric powder, green chillis and salt. Mix to combine.
- Add Kashmiri chilli paste and coriander and cumin powders then saute to cook out the rawness of the paste.
- Once the rawness of the paste has been cooked out, add the pureed tin of tomatoes.
- Simmer the masala sauce until the tomatoes are cooked and the oil separates to the surface of the sauce.
Combining the meat and masala sauce
- Add the sauce to the cooked meat. Check for salt and spice.
- Add the yogurt and simmer for a few minutes.
- Garnish with coriander leaves, ginger julienne and a sliced green chilli.
- Chalo kawa!
- How does it taste?