Indian Brown Beef Stew, and Dinner for One

Today I chose to buy white bread from Miri's most popular bakery. Gotta lay off the instant noodles sooner or later, right? When it came to my turn to pay, the cashier has the audacity to rearrange the carbon paper in her receipt books for a good 3 minutes, and has me giving her the most maleavolant stares I can muster, my damned 3 ringgit in my hand. Although I have to admit that the loaves are flying off the shelves - everyone in the bakery has at least one in their hands (the old man and his daughter who have just hijacked the counter beside my super efficient one have two with them).

Once home, I watch Jamie Oliver conjure baby tomato pasta and blueberry-apple-balsamic crumble whilst triumphantly tossing insta-cook meals into the trash.

I heat up a one-sized portion of my homemade curry that I had been storing for myself in anticipation of many solitary meals. Get out two slices of bread - thick and white and pillowy, and get my cheddar block out of the freezer. Lay the slices on a baking tray, grate on the cheese, a couple of twists of black pepper. Toast till everything turns a golden brown, while the curry spins happily in the microwave.

Hot curry - melting slices of beef and onions, spicy in the mouth. Everything is hot and savoury. I rush to wolf it all down - bread, beef - before they get cold.

Indian Brown Beef Stew
Adapted from 5 Spices, 50 Dishes by Ruta Kahate

Serves 4, I halved the recipe and freeze for later supping

3 tbsp canola oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped (I sliced into rings)
4 cloves of garlic, finely grated
Small thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
2 tsps chilli powder (cayenne) - to taste, really
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
2 tbsp coriander seeds, finely ground
1 pound beef sirloin, sliced into half-centimeter pieces
2 cups of water (I added chicken stock concentrate from the bottle)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice

Heat the oil in a stockpot and saute the onion till golden - this takes about 15-30 minutes. Add the coriander, garlic, ginger, cayenne and tumeric, and stir medium heat until browned, about 4 minutes. Deglaze the pan with aa couple of tablespoons of water/stock, stirring to loosen the browned bits at the bottom of the pan.

Add the beef, saute over medium heat till the meat is browned. Add the rest of the water/stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and gently simmer until the beef is tender.

Add the lemon juice, simmer a bit more and remove from the heat. If storing, cool it quickly (I decant into a stainless steel bowl held in a bowl of cool water, then pop in the fridge and then freeze).

The good thing about this dish is that it does taste better the next day, so make it in advance if you so please. Although as you can see, as long as you slice the beef thinly enough this should be a piece of cake. If you like really soft melting chunks, use stewing beef and simmer for an hour or more, or as Ruta recommends, use a pressure cooker.