Madras-style beef

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 1 kg beef goulash, from the rump
• 125 g clarified butter
• 2 large onions
• 4 chili peppers, dried
• 2 carnations
• 1 cinnamon stick(s)
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp, leveled cumin
• 1 tsp mustard seeds, black
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 60 ml vinegar

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 45 minutes

Break up the chili peppers and cinnamon stick slightly. Roast them with the coriander seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek, and black peppercorns in a pan without oil until the aromas of the spices have fully developed. Don’t bother smelling the pan at this point, as the aroma is quite strong. Immediately pour the roasted mixture from the pan onto a plate to cool. Otherwise, the spices would just burn from the heat in the pan. Once cooled, grind the spices very finely in a spice grinder. In a suitably sized bowl, mix the finely ground spices with the sugar, turmeric, and vinegar. You have a flavorful marinade ready. Rinse the meat under cold water and dry thoroughly with kitchen paper. Transfer the meat and marinade to a suitably sized freezer bag and knead gently to ensure that all pieces of meat come into contact with the marinade. Then let it rest for 30 minutes. Peel the onions and cut into fine strips. In a saucepan, fry the onions in the clarified butter until browned. Remove the onions from the saucepan and then fry the marinated beef in the remaining clarified butter over high heat until browned. Add the onions back in and deglaze with about 600 ml water. Simmer gently over medium heat with the lid on for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, remove the lid and continue to simmer the beef until the sauce has reached the desired consistency. Season the beef with salt to taste. I served the beef with cooked rice that had been spiced up with toasted almonds and raisins, garnished with hard-boiled egg wedges and sprinkled with freshly chopped coriander.