Flavourful easy Indian Beef Curry recipe cooked in onion and tomato base curry sauce, infused with a blend of classic Indian spices. Create the best tender beef curry that brings both warmth and traditional home-cooking flavour to your plate. Perfect with a bowl of fluffy basmati rice or plain naan.
A white serving bowl containing beef chunks cooked in curry sauce.
In contrast to Chinese beef curry and Japanese beef curry, Indian beef masala curry is spicier and bolder in flavour.
We love both traditional homestyle and takeaway-style curries and they are always in our family’s weekly meal rotation. Ground Beef Curry and Garlic Chilli Chicken Curry are my go-to quick curry recipes for the days I couldn’t think of what curry to cook.
Why do we love this recipe
This beef curry is an excellent harmony of meat, spices, and fresh herbs, and is slow-cooked to perfection. Easy to adjust the heat and flavour to your preference by customizing the chilli and spices.
Beef curry is one of our family’s specialities and we cook it in many different variations by adding tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, dal, and spices. We love to have it in everyday meals, casual dinners, celebrations, festivals, potlucks, etc. It’s great to serve the crowd and is rich in satisfying bold flavour.
What type of beef to use?
The choice of beef cut has an impact on both cooking time and flavour of the final dish. Popular beef cut choices are chuck steak, shank, short ribs, flank steak, sirloin, skirt, silverside, etc.
Leaner beef cut contain less marble fat and need more time to become tender but they are ideal for slow-cooking.
For this slow-cooked universal beef curry, you don’t have to use expensive meat cuts, add your favourite leaner or fatter beef. Slightly adjust the cooking time according to the meat cut and slow-braise to desired tenderness.
It’s important to cut the beef into same-sized medium bite-sized pieces for even cooking and trimming out the excess fat.
It’s almost hard to believe it’s homemade! 😍
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ingredient:
For the Beef
- 2 pounds beef chuck see Notes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil
For the Sauce
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper omit for more mild flavor
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup low-sodium beef stock plus more as needed
To Serve (All Optional)
- cooked basmati rice
- warmed naan
- plain Greek yogurt
Equipment
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Large bowl
- Large skillet with lid or heavy-bottomed pot with lid
- large wooden spoon or spatula
- large plate or bowl
Instructions
Use sharp kitchen knife to cut beef chuck into 2-inch thick cubes, then transfer cubed beef chuck to large mixing bowl.
Add 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper to mixing bowl. Toss or gently stir beef to coat thoroughly with salt and pepper. Set aside.
beef vindaloo step 1
Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Once pan is hot, add neutral oil and swirl pan to coat bottom with oil. Heat oil over medium-high heat until oil is hot and shimmery.
Once oil is hot and shimmery, add seasoned beef chuck to skillet. Sauté beef chuck until browned on all sides, approximately 6 minutes. Transfer browned beef to plate or bowl and set aside.
Reduce heat under skillet to medium. Do not drain skillet.
Add chopped onion to skillet. Cook 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion has browned and caramelized. Be careful not to burn onions.
Once onion has caramelized, add minced garlic to skillet. Stir to incorporate, then let onions and garlic cook together 2 minutes or until garlic has softened.
After 2 minutes, add garam masala, cumin, paprika, turmeric, ground mustard, cayenne, ground ginger, and cinnamon to skillet. Stir to fully incorporate all spices. Continue stirring, cooking 1 minute or until spices are fragrant.
beef vindaloo step 4