Bengal Beef Curry

This week's favourite recipe comes courtesy of a cookbook that my boyfriend recently bought for me. I first scoffed at the book, it's called "Hellbent For Cooking" and is a collection of recipes contributed by members of heavy metal bands.

And while I am a fan of heavy metal, and cooking, I thought it was too much of a gimmick to be of any worth. Well that was until I read the list of recipes and tried some out for myself. There are some really great dishes, with some equally fun names, and it is scattered with tonnes of band trivia which helps keep things interesting. Even the layout and graphic design is appealing. So now it sits proudly next to my copy of "Joy of Cooking". 

The main thing that I like about the book is that the recipes  come from all over the world. One of the dishes that I particularly like is this one, the Bengal Beef Curry, submitted by Vetis Monarch of Weapon. It's so ridiculously easy to make and is amazingly tasty, plus it leaves hardly any dishes to wash up afterwards (bonus!). Also, you might want to note that even though the recipe suggests leaving the meat and potatoes to marinate for four hours, I have been pressed for time and only had it marinate for half an hour, and it still tasted fantastic, so I still recommend you give it a go if you aren't able to leave it that long. Also feel free to reduce the amount of chilli powder if you don't like things too spicy, it will still be flavoursome.

Recipe adapted from Hellbent for Cooking:

 Ingredients:

• 900g beef (I like to use boneless beef cut into cubes, but bone-in is fine too) 
• 3-4 potatoes
• 1/2 an onion, chopped (you can use a whole one, it's fine)
• 1/2 cup (125ml) vegetable oil
• 2 and 1/2 tablespoons turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 whole cardamom pods
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 and 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Add the onion, oil and spices to a mortar and pestle or blender. Combine until they become a paste.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into medium sized cubes.

Place the potatoes and beef into a large bowl. Mix in the spice paste and make sure to coat everything. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for a couple of hours. The suggested marinating time is 4 hours.

Pour all the ingredients into a large pot. Add a cup of water. Stir slowly over a high heat until the mixture starts to boil.

Stir well then turn the heat down to medium low. Cover the pot and cook for 50 minutes - an hour, or until meat is tender and potatoes are cooked.

Serve with basmati rice.

Serves 6