Tender chunks of gently
spiced beef in a fluffy saffron rice. If you like a bit more heat, don’t
worry about deseeding both the chillies.
Ingredients
-
- 100ml/3½oz full-fat milk
- 1 heaped tsp saffron strands
- 1kg/2lbs 2oz braising steak, cut into bite-sized chunks
- 4 onions, peeled
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 25g/1oz fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 5 cloves
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- ¼ cinnamon stick
- 12 cardamom pods
- 2½ tsp sea salt flakes, plus extra to season
- ½ whole nutmeg, finely grated
- 135ml/4¾fl oz sunflower oil
- 200ml/7fl oz natural yoghurt
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- 325g/11½oz basmati rice
- 4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
- 50g/2oz butter
- To serve
-
- 50g/2oz sultanas
- 40g/1½oz flaked almonds
- 3 large free-range eggs
- freshly ground black pepper
- fresh coriander
Preparation method
-
Pour the milk into a small saucepan, add the
saffron threads and heat gently for two minutes without boiling. Remove
from the heat and set aside for 2-3 hours, preferably overnight.
-
Trim the beef of any hard fat and cut into
bite-sized pieces. Heat two tablespoons of oil in the frying pan. Season
the beef with salt and freshly ground black pepper and fry in 2-3
batches over a medium-high heat until browned on all sides. Transfer to a
large, lidded saucepan.
-
While the beef is frying, roughly chop two of the
onions and put in a food processor with the garlic, ginger and chillies.
Add 50ml/2fl oz cold water and blend to a smooth paste.
-
Put the cloves, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, 1½
teaspoons salt and seeds from the cardamom pods into a pestle and
mortar. Grind until a fine powder. Grate the nutmeg into the mixture and
tip into the onion paste. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
Mix until all the ingredients are combined.
-
Add a further three tablspoons of oil into the same
frying pan that was used to cook the beef and fry the spiced onion
paste over a medium heat for around 10 minutes until lightly browned,
stirring often. Place the mixture into the pan with the beef. Stir in
the yoghurt, 450ml/16fl oz water and bay leaves. Place the pan over a
low heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover with a lid and simmer
gently for 1½ hours or until the beef is tender, stirring occasionally.
-
Remove the lid from the pan and stir in the sugar.
Increase the heat and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes, or until reduced
and thick. Add a little more salt and pepper to taste.
-
Toast the almonds in a non-stick frying pan and
cook over a medium heat for 4-6 minutes. Stir the sultanas into the
almonds and immediately tip into a heatproof bowl. Set aside to cool.
-
Cut the remaining two onions in half and slice
thinly. Pour two tablespoons of oil into a frying pan and fry the onions
for 6-8 minutes over a fairly high heat until softened and
golden-brown, stirring frequently. Set aside.
-
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
-
Half-fill a large pan with water, add one teaspoon
of salt and bring to the boil. Put the rice in a sieve and rinse under
plenty of cold water. Stir the rice into the hot water and return to the
boil. Cook for five minutes and drain well. Add the coriander and stir
until well combined.
-
Transfer half the meat and sauce into a large,
ovenproof dish. Spoon over half of the part-cooked rice and drizzle with
half the soaked saffron threads and milk. Top with half the fried
onions. Repeat the layers once more. Dot with the butter. Cover the dish
with two layers of tightly fitting foil and bake for 30 minutes.
-
Hard-boil the eggs for nine minutes until firm and
drain in a sieve under running water until cool enough to handle. Peel
the eggs and cut into quarters.
-
Remove the dish from the oven and discard the foil.
Use a fork to lightly fluff the rice. Garnish with the freshly boiled
eggs, scatter with toasted almonds and sultanas. Add a few fresh
coriander leaves and serve.
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