The way I decide what I’ll be cooking for dinner is narrow it down to a category, Like if we had chicken the day before, I try to do maybe beef the next, then vegetarian and then pasta and so on. So it will be way easier for me to decide what I’ll be cooking for dinner. So a lot of times I’ll just take out some kind of meat or poultry from the freezer to thaw although I would have no idea what I’ll be cooking. I think deciding what to have for dinner is one of the hardest things, because a lot of times you will just be out of ideas. In my case, taking my husband opinion doesn’t help much either, because if I leave the choice for him we will be having the same 4 or 5 meals all year round. In today’s recipe I made a beef curry with vegetables that I got from a Manal Al Alem an Arabic cooking show. This curry is inspired from the Gulf Area in the Middle East. You don’t have to stick to the vegetables I have in the recipe , you can use any vegetables you really like.
Ingredients:
Serves 4
1 lb. beef cubes
4 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion (peeled and halved)
1 medium tomato (halved)
1 green pepper (seeded and quartered)
½ tsp. black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp. whole cardamom
½ tsp. whole cloves
For the Vegetable Mixture:
2 medium potato peeled and cut in medium size cubes
10 baby carrots sliced in half
1 medium onion sliced
1 garlic clove minced
2 medium tomatoes diced
For Spice Mixture:
½ tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tbsp. curry powder
¼ tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. chili
Directions:
Over medium high heat, in a medium sized pot, heat 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil and sauté the beef cubes about 2-3 minutes or until browned.
Add the halved onion, halved tomato, quartered green pepper, whole spices. Sauté for another 30 seconds.
Add 6 cups of hot water. Bring to a boil. Cover pot and reduce heat to medium.
Cook for about 45 minutes or longer depending of your cut of beef. You want the cubes to be cooked but not overly tender because they will be cooked again with the vegetables.
With a slotted spoon, take the beef out of the pot. Put aside and keep warm. Strain the beef broth reserving the broth aside.
In a medium sized pot, heat the remaining 3 tbsp. of oil; add the sliced onions and sauté for about 4 – 5 minutes until golden in color. Add the minced garlic and continue sautéing for 30 seconds.
Add the spice mixture, continue sautéing, and then add the carrots and potatoes. Sauté for an additional 2 minutes.
Add cooked beef cubes, diced tomatoes. Add 1 – 1 1/2 cup of the reserved beef broth. Bring to a boil Cover and reduce heat to medium low and cook for 40 minutes until beef cubes are tender and vegetables are cooked.
Serve with rice.
Source: Adapted from manal Il Alem Cooking Show
