A spicy semi-dry dish made with tender boneless beef pieces, marinated and stir-fried with spices, shallots, coconut and curry leaves, perfect for pairing with Kerala porotta.
Add the boneless beef to a bowl or directly in the pressure cooker pot or Instant Pot insert. Add ginger-garlic paste and coconut oil. Mix well using your hands making sure every piece is coated.
Then add the chopped shallots, green chillies, curry leaves and vinegar. Again, use your hands to mix it thoroughly. You may use a glove here.
15 mini shallots , 3 to 5 green chillies, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, 2 sprig of curry leaves
Lastly, add the ground spices and salt and mix well making sure the beef pieces are massaged and coated.
1 teaspoon red chilli powder, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, 2 tablespoon coriander powder, 1 tablespoon black pepper powder, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds powder, ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds, Salt to taste
Pressure Cook
Pressure cooker: Pressure-cook the beef mixture with ¼ cup water on medium heat for 3 to 4 whistles or 20 minutes. Sometimes depending on the beef,you may have to cook for 25 to 30 minutes.
½ cup water
Instant Pot: If using Instant pot, start on saute mode to get the beef mixture to warm and searing. Then add approx. ½ cup water to prevent burning. Mix it thoroughly, cancel saute, close the lid and make sure the steam release is turned away from you. Pressure-cook for 15 minutes on high pressure and let the pressure release naturally before opening the pot.
Open and check the doneness and cook further if required. Both the methods will yield some gravy that you can choose to remove and serve separately or cook it down to thick masala.
Fry
Heat a thick-bottomed skillet or kadai on a medium flame and add coconut oil. Add the coconut slices fry for a few minutes until golden. Add the curry leaves and fry until crispy. Add dried red chillies and fry for a few seconds.
2 tablespoon coconut oil, 10 to 15 coconut slices, 2 dried red chillies, 1 sprig of curry leaves
Reduce the heat to low to prevent heavy splattering – add the cooked beef pieces and start frying by sauteing it until the meat starts to turn dry and dark. You may stop at any stage you prefer, wet with masala coated, dry or super dry!
Finish off
Stir in some freshly torn curry leaves, sprinkle some garam masala, pepper powder and drizzle coconut oil before serving as a side with porotta, appam, ari dosha (rice crepes), neychor, chapathi, curd rice, etc.