Braised Beef Curry (AME HNAT) by Dahl Daddys aka Corey & Imogin. This is a Burmese braised beef curry built on a bold homemade paste, heaps of onion, tomato, fish sauce and tamarind for that deep, rich base. The beef cooks low and slow until it’s tender and coated in a thick, spiced sauce that hits all the right notes.
Category
Dinner
Servings
4-6
Prep time
25 minutes
Cook time
2 hours 50 minutes
Braised Beef Curry (AME HNAT) by Dahl Daddys aka Corey & Imogin. This is a Burmese braised beef curry built on a bold homemade paste, heaps of onion, tomato, fish sauce and tamarind for that deep, rich base. The beef cooks low and slow until it’s tender and coated in a thick, spiced sauce that hits all the right notes.
Ingredients
- 120ml beef lard (or peanut oil/other neutral oil)
- 1 sprig curry leaves, leaves picked
- 1kg beef short ribs (or shin or chuck), deboned, cut into 5cm cubes
- 500g brown onions, sliced
- 1 tsp ground turmeric (3g)
- 15g tomato paste
- 350g tomato puree
- 60ml (3 tbsp) fish sauce (60ml)
- 30ml (1½ tbsp) tamarind purée
- 20g stick lemongrass white part only (whole one 40g)
- 20g spring onion, roughly chopped
- 60g piece of ginger
- 30g garlic cloves
- 25g coriander, stems and root only
- 1 sprig curry leaves, leaves picked
- ¼ tsp MSG
- 2 tsp paprika (5g)
- 1 tsp hot chilli powder (2.5g)
- 3 tsp ground coriander (6g)
-
coriander leaves
-
steamed rice
-
lime wedges
Paste
Seasoning
To serve
Directions
Make the paste
Blend all the paste ingredients into a rough paste using a small food processor or blender.
Cook the base
Heat the lard or oil in a large heavy based saucepan over medium heat. Add the curry leaves and cook, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes, until aromatic and starting to crisp.
- Add onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring until softened. Stir in turmeric and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in tomato paste and cook for another minute. Then add prepared curry paste and stir well to combine. Cook it out until it breaks down and the oil returns to the surface again.
- Stir in the seasoning ingredients and fry for about 5 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the tomato purée and fish sauce and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add the beef
Add the beef to the saucepan and mix well until completely coated by the sauce. Stir in the tamarind and bring to a simmer.
- Cover with a lid, reduce heat to low and cook for 2½ hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Finish the curry
Once the beef is soft, turn the heat up slightly and cook, uncovered, to reduce the sauce.
- Continue cooking until the oil splits again and the curry is thick and coats the beef.
- Serve curry with steamed rice, coriander leaves and lime wedges.
Recipe notes
Origins
This is Dahl Daddy original, which Corey makes minor tweaks to each time he makes it to suit his guests and tastes.
Cook support
For the paste, lightly bruise the lemongrass with a rolling pin before blending it, and take the time to really cook out the paste and aromatics to release the full flavours.
Sourcing
Beef lard can be sourced from your butcher, or you can make your own by rendering down some of the trimmed fat from the beef.
Storage
Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 5 days.
Serving ideas
You could add some extra toppings to this curry, such as crispy onions, sambal, and some sliced cucumber.
