Gin Beef Curry the Easy Way

Gin Beef Curry was a ‘throw caution to the wind’ fusion cooking experiment!! I was sent a bottle of Colombo Gin, which I do enjoy with a tonic and various garnishes. I felt the urge however to experiment a little further and wanted to use this gin in my cooking which subsequently lead to this fusion feast!!

Cooking with Gin

Having played with gin and a cheesecake (Colombo Gin Cheesecake) which was a truly sumptuous treat, I now wanted to add this liquor into a savoury dish. Seen as we are all about Sri Lankan spices, this was going to be a true kitchen experiment. I really had no idea if this was going to work but rolled my sleeves up, put my piny on and got stuck in to the cooking process!!

The aromas of this dish will fill your kitchen and have your neighbours knocking at your door in an attempt to invite themselves round for dinner. The gin added a real depth of flavour making for a rather rich and decadent yet smooth and sultry dish.

Preparation Time – 15 minutes
Cooking Time – 45 minutes or until beef is tender

Gin Beef Curry Ingredients

400g beef (stewing beef or any other cheaper casserole type cut of beef is great)
1 small onion
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1-2 small tomatoes
500ml beef stock

1 -2 tbs oil
5 curry leaves
3 cloves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek (also known as dill) seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1-2 tsp roasted curry powder
1 tsp tamarind paste
Salt to taste

50-150ml gin (this is at your discretion. I started with 50ml and ended up adding closer to 150ml!)

Time to Cook Gin Beef Curry

Time to Cook Gin Beef Curry.

1. Heat up your oil in a large frying pan or wok over a medium heat.

2. Once hot add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and cloves. Wait for the mustard seeds to start popping and then add your onion, garlic and ginger. Stir trough till glassy looking.

3. Then add your chopped tomato and stir through.

4. Add the beef (I have cut mine into cube sizes but you can shred the beef or cut it into thin strips if you prefer) and all of the spices and stir through again.

5. Once all the beef is coated in the spices, add your chosen quantity of gin straight to the pan.

6. Then add 500ml beef stock.

7. Add the teaspoon of tamarind paste, stir through and allow to simmer over a medium to low heat.

8. Stir and check regularly and add more stock/water if necessary. Add salt to taste.

9. Once cooked through – I taste tested mine regularly throughout the cooking process ; ) serve with rice and accompanying curry dishes. Here I added a Hari Hari dhal (Lentil) with watercress curry along with curry fried Halloumi (a highly addictive dish that can be served as a side or a snack and for which the recipe will be coming soon!)

Optional but Super Tasty

Gin Beef Curry is one of those serendipitous dishes that is going to become a firm fixture on the Hari Hari household menu. To add another dimension of flavour, you could add some bacon lardons but be careful with extra salt if you do.

For those of you who like your curries to have a bit of a kick, fresh red or green chillies would make for that perfect hit. Alternatively if you can’t get hold of the fresh chillies, chilli powder will be just as good.