South African Beef Curry

A true South African Curry would probably use lamb, not beef. To save a little money, however, I think beef is perfectly fine. Use really good quality beef, though. We used medium grade beef and it was a medium grade meal. Here's how you do it. 


Ingredients

• 3  pounds  boned, fat-trimmed beef chuck
• 2  onions (1 lb. total), peeled and chopped
• 1/4  cup  curry powder
• 2  tablespoons  mustard seed
• 1  tablespoon  minced garlic
• 1  teaspoon  ground dried turmeric
• 2  cups  fat-skimmed beef broth
• 1 1/4  pounds  Roma tomatoes, rinsed, cored, and chopped
• 2  tablespoons  minced fresh jalapeño chilies
• 2  tablespoons  minced fresh ginger
• 1  firm-ripe banana (about 5 oz.), peeled and thinly sliced
• About 1/2 cup mango chutney
• About 1/3 cup sweetened shredded dried coconut
• Cucumber yogurt sauce (recipe here)
• About 6 cups hot cooked rice
• Salt

Directions

1. Mix the beef with the onions and 1 cup of water. Boil these 3 ingredients, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the heat back to high and stir.
2. Cook until the liquid is gone (evaporated) and some browning starts to occur. This will probably take 6-7 minutes. If there is any visible fat, remove with a spoon. 
3. Combine the curry powder, garlic, turmeric and mustard seed. Add the mixture to the pot and stir. 
4. Add the broth, ginger, chilies and tomatoes. Stir so the bits on the bottom of the pan come up. Return the pot to a boil, cover with a lid and simmer for about 2.5 hours. 
5. Set out the toppings in bowls: mango chutney, cucumber yogurt sauce, banana, chutney.
6. Serve the beef curry over rice and add toppings. Add salt to taste, if necessary.