Nadan Beef Curry
Nadan Beef Curry. Through this dish I was trying to recreate the sweet memories of my child hood days. It all started with a chat I had with my recently married cousin sis. We were discussing about her cooking experiments. Suddenly she asked me, ‘do you remember Mary Chedathy’s beef curry?’ Mary Chedathy was our grandma’s assistant, our nanny, all rolled into one. She used to make a beef curry, the thought of which still makes my mouth water. After having a long discussion about her beef curry, I almost decided to give it a try and started thinking about the ingredients, method and all.
Finally I ended up with the recipe below. There is a small difference from her curry, as the gravy was thin. I made it thick for a change. The main ingredient apart from the beef is potato (I still remember how we used to fight for the potato pieces as kids :)
So here is a modified version of our dear Mary Chedathy’s beef curry.
- Beef – 1/2 kg, cleaned and cut into small pieces
- Potato – 1 medium, cut into big cubes
- Onion – 2 medium
Ginger & garlic – crushed, 1 tbsp each
Green chilli – 2, slit lenghtwise - Chili powder – 1/2 tbsp
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
Meat masala – 1 tsp - Medium thick coconut milk – 1 1/2 – 2 cups
Thick coconut milk – 1/2 – 1 cup - Small onion – 4,5 chopped
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Fennel seeds (perumjeerakam) – a pinch - Curry leaves
- Coconut oil
Heat oil and saute onion. Once it starts becoming brown add crushed ginger & garlic, green chilli and curry leaves. Stir for 2,3 minutes. Add masala powders and stir for 5 minutes. when the oil starts separating add beef & potato. Combine well. Add medium thick coconut milk. Cook till the beef & potato is done. Once the beef is cooked and gravy becomes thick , add thick coconut milk & mix. When it starts boiling, remove from gas.
Heat oil in a pan & splutter mustard seeds and fennel seeds. Add small onion & curry leaves, once the onion becomes golden brown add it to the curry. This curry is a perfect side dish for chappathi, appam, rice.
Sign up for more free recipe updates by email! It'll take you less than 30 seconds!
- Print this recipe before cooking! And add to your recipe collection folder...
- Email this recipe to yourself or friends and family. They'll thank you!
- I'd like to hear from you. Add a great comment below, or reply to others'
Hi Maria, this curry looks too yummy, i once had a similar kind of curry where i had substituted potatoes with lentils, and it was wonderful. I’m gonna try the curry ur way too sometime. Thanks for sharing.
Reply
Hi,
I sent your recipe to my sis and she cooked it for her family. the result was simply fabulous.. The kids think Sanjee uncle is the most fabulous cook?? Thanks and I must compliment you on your food blog…
Reply
Hi Maria,
I was wondering what cut of beef you were using for this particular curry? Is it skirt steak?
Reply
Thanks Mona & Sanjeeva…
Shehzad, I haven’t used any particular cut for this,I used boneless beef for this recipe.
Reply
Anu
Reply: on May 14th, 2010 at 6:44 pm@Maria, Hi Maria… Is that Marychedathy whom u have mentioned frm any part of Kottayam?
Reply
Maria
Reply: on May 16th, 2010 at 9:05 pmHi Anu,
She is from Edappally itself (ekm), my hometown :)
Cheers
Maria
Reply
I was looking for a beef curry recipe,turned out excellent.Thank you.
Reply
rythmsoflife – really happy to hear that you liked it :). thanks for the comment.
Reply
i really loved dis recipe.. came out very well..
i had no idea hw to go abt beef cooking, nd thnks to u , tht is done…
wud love to c more recipes
diff types of biryani nd chicken dishes also…
so hope to look fwd…
Reply
Mariakutteee….
Nadan beef curry finger-lickin good…… KIDILAM!!
Thank u again :-)
Reply
Maria
Reply: on July 7th, 2009 at 4:38 pmHi Rashmi & Bindu
Very happy to know that this curry came out well for you both, thanks for writing to me.
Rashmi – I’ve posted mutton, fish and prawns biriyani. Please do check it out. Hope you will like it.
Cheers
Maria
Reply
Hi Maria,
I tried this style in chicken also.very tasty…..
Reply
Maria
Reply: on July 30th, 2009 at 11:33 amHi Reshma
Thanks dear :) I haven’t tried it with chicken yet, may be next time :)
Take care
Maria
Reply
Maria.. Cocnut ilaathe onum nadakilee????
Reply
Hi Biju
i will email you some recipes without coconut, hope it helps :)
Reply
I would like to prepare your beef curry receipe for a party which consist of about 15 – 20 people. Would you please specify the estimated ingredients to be used for this receipe when it comes to large quantity?
Reply
Maria
Reply: on August 21st, 2009 at 12:00 pmHi Grigra
I think 3 kg of beef is required for 15-20 people (assuming that you’re referring to adults). You can adjust the quantity of other ingredients accordingly.
Please let me know if you want to know the qty of each ingredients specifically. Though I havent prepared such large qty, i will try my best to give a rough estimate if that’s ok with you.
Cheers
Maria
Reply
Maria chechi..
.it was ma debut with beef and it turned out well.ma roomies are nw quite impressed wid me…:D
Thnx to ur recipe..lukin forward to more of these.
:)
Reply
Maria
Reply: on October 22nd, 2009 at 7:21 amHi Hari
Thanks a lot :)
roomies kolladichallo oru nalla cookine aanallo avarkku room mate aayi kittiye :)
Cheers
Maria
Reply
Hi Maria,
I stumbled upon your food blog ,searching for well..”a Dummy’s Guide to Kerala Cooking”… My wife’s into her 3rd month and the kitchen isn’t exactly her favourite place in the house right now.So, new as I am to it, I’m trying to cook her something everyday to satisfy her new found appetite. Your blog have been a great help… Thanks… and keep adding those recipies.
Thanks,
Jay & Harsha.
Reply
Maria
Reply: on January 15th, 2010 at 9:29 amHi Jay & Harsha
First of all congrats to both of you!!
Am really glad to know that you find the recipes helpful, hope your wife likes it too :)
Have fun cooking!
Cheers
Maria
Reply
Hi Maria,
Hats off to your recipe. It was really fab. Will definitely try more of your recipes. Anyways keep posting more of ur inventions and innovations to the existing ones. U will keep rocking.
Regards,
Vivid
Reply
Hi Maria,
I am a frequent visitor here..I have tried quite a few of your recipes..They have all turned out well. Have you tried this dish with maggi coconut milk powder? If so, could you tell me what are the propotions of the powder and when to add it? Also, will there be any taste difference? I am having hard time cooking with coconut milk from powder, thought of checking with you..In some of your other recipes, I recall seeing maggi coconut milk powder..Thanks in advance
Reply
Maria
Reply: on May 30th, 2010 at 5:37 pmHi Ann,
Happy to know that you visit this place frequently :)
I’ve made this curry only with coconut milk powder. Infact, I havent tried cooking with fresh coconut milk yet :)
To make thick coconut milk, add 3 heaped tbsp of coconut milk powder to one cup of water & mix well. For medium thick consistency, add 2 heaped tbsp of powder to 1 cup of water. That’s the std proportions. You can adjust it as per your needs.
Add this to the recipe just the way you add regular coconut milk. Regarding taste difference, I guess if you compare both, curry made with fresh coconut milk will be better :)
Cheers
Maria
Reply
Ann
Reply: on May 31st, 2010 at 1:33 amThanks a lot Maria for the response. I tried your Nadan Beef Fry yesterday and it was good :). Thanks for the recipes. I will try this and let you know.
Reply
Ann
Reply: on July 5th, 2010 at 1:00 amHi,
I tried this recipe and it came out excellent..Thanks a lot for the recipe.:)
Ann
Maria
Reply: on July 6th, 2010 at 12:36 pmAnn,
You are welcome dear :)
Cheers
Maria
Thanks a ton Maria….I prepared this and it came out really well..
Reply
Maria
Reply: on June 7th, 2010 at 1:50 pmThank you Shana :)
Reply
hello maria
its been a long time since i tried out your recipes…was getting so lazy and often ended up cooking the usuals…we were celebrating our first wedding anniversary last week…so i decided to make something special and ended up in your blog as usual :-) …tried the nadan beef curry and beef olathiyathu recipes…turned out so well that we finished the whole thing (but i forgot to pressure cook the beef for the nadan beef curry…so it took a bit more time than expected…and finally i ended up pressure cooking the beef seperately)…but it was worth it…both of us liked it so much…thanks again for making our day even more special
Reply
Maria
Reply: on August 25th, 2010 at 9:48 amHi Sarah,
Belated anniversary wishes :) May God Bless you with many more!
Thanks a lot for trying the recipes dear and also for the comment. I’m really happy that MariasMenu was also a part of your special day :)
Cheers
Maria
Reply
Hi Maria,
Just wanted to check if its ok to pressure cook the beef & potatoes together.. the beef here takes around 5 whistles to cook. Do u think the potatoes will over cook.. any suggestions??..planning to make this next week end..
Thanks
C
Reply
Maria
Reply: on August 30th, 2010 at 7:52 pmHi C,
I actually cook both beef & potato together, because its easy that way ;) and usually the potato dont become that mushy too.
However if you dont like the idea of slightly overcooked potato, its better to cook it separately and add it to the curry before adding thick coconut milk.
Cheers
Maria
Reply
C
Reply: on August 31st, 2010 at 6:44 am@Maria, Thanks Maria ! Will let you know how it comes out :)
Reply
C
Reply: on September 4th, 2010 at 3:44 pmHi Maria,
I made it yesterday..it came out fab !!.
Thanks a lot, this is definitely gonna be a regular at our home :)
C
Maria
Reply: on September 7th, 2010 at 3:52 pmHey C,
You are welcome dear :) Very happy to hear that it came out well for you. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers
Maria