Cape Malay Beef & Fruit Curry

Serves	8
Prep time	30 minutes
Cook time	2 hours, 30 minutes
Total time	3 hours
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish
Misc	Pre-preparable, Serve Hot
Occasion	Birthday Party, Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Formal Party, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentines day
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

A fragrant, spicy curry that is packed full of dried fruit and is slow cooked for meltingly tender beef. This curry benefits from being made the day before you need to serve it, and any leftovers can be made into delicious curry puffs or rissoles the next day.

Ingredients

Curry

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
50g desiccated coconut
100g dried apricots
100g sultanas
1 tablespoon plain flour
4 large onions, peeled and sliced
500g stewing steak, cut into even-sized chunks

Spice Mix

¼ teaspoon black mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon ground chilli powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
½ teaspoon cardamom seeds
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Note

Directions

Step 1	Spice mix – place all of the seeds in a small frying pan and heat gently until they release their fragrance, then take them off the heat. Grind the seeds with a pestle and mortar and then add them to the ground spices, mix well, and set to one side.
Step 2	Curry – Heat the vegetable oil over a medium to high heat, then add the stewing steak piece by piece, sear each piece, turning it over to brown evenly – take the beef out as it browns and allow it to drain on some kitchen towel. Do NOT overcrowd the pan.
Step 3	Place the seared beef in a large oven-proof casserole dish. Add some more oil of needed and then cook the onions over a low heat, until they are just soft and opaque. Add the onions to the beef and then add the curry spice mix to the pan, and heat it up before adding a tablespoon of flour, mix well and gradually add 300ml water, stirring all the time to make sure it is lump free. Pour it over the beef and onions.
Step 4	Add the sultanas, apricots and desiccated coconut to the beef mixture and mix well. Add some salt and pepper and place the lid on the casserole dish.
Step 5	Cook in a pre-heated oven 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2 for 2 to 2 ½ hours, or until the curry sauce has thickened and the beef is tender.
Step 6	Serve with steamed rice and assorted sambals, such as chopped tomato, chopped onion, chopped cucumber, chutney, peanuts, desiccated coconut and naan breads.
Step 7	This can be cooked in a slow cooker too – cook on auto for up to 8 hours or on high for 6 hours. (Times vary according to different slow cooker models)