Beef Korma

The first time I had Indian food, I was visiting friends at university in Waterloo. Near the campus there was this strip mall curry house, and once I got my hands on some butter chicken, I was hooked. I can’t believe that I spent 19 years sans curry. Then again, I was a picky eater growing up (understatement) and likely would not have welcomed a plate of curry with open arms. (Plus, growing up in the 80s and 90s meant sauces largely came from Campbell’s Soup cans. Or suspended in animation by the miracle of Jell-O.)

Today’s supper did not come from a can – nope, I didn’t even cheat with one of the wide variety of jarred curry sauces (which are getting to be pretty good for quick suppers). But I had a day off and wanted to make homemade curry, going with my favourite: Beef Korma (really, any excuse for cow).

Stewing beef cubes, sitting for a couple hours in plain yogurt, which eventually becomes the cooking sauce.

 

The recipe calls for a can of diced tomatoes, but we had a fresh variety pack from a previous supper.

I deviated from the recipe in two ways:

• Using a red vs. a green pepper (as I’m more partial to them, and figured the sweetness would help balance the spice)
• Using fresh vs. canned tomatoes (bye, sodium city)

Overall, we were pretty happy with the flavours and the quantity – enough for supper and leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I wish it was a bit creamier (like I’ve had at restaurants), but maybe adding some more plain yogurt at the end would fix that.

Beef Korma and jasmine rice