Wholesome North A brand of Ceylon Valley Inc.

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Sri Lankan Beef Curry

Slow-cooked with whole cinnamon, cloves and pepper, finished with thick coconut milk.

  • Prep20 min
  • Cook2 h
  • Makes4 to 6 servings

This is a wet-zone curry: dark, aromatic and built on whole spices that go in early and stay in. The cinnamon quill is doing structural work here — it holds the whole dish together against the chilli and the coconut.

Ingredients

  • 900 g stewing beef, cut into 4 cm pieces
  • 2 Ceylon cinnamon quills
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 2 onions, finely sliced
  • 6 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 3 cm ginger, grated
  • 2 tbsp Sri Lankan roasted curry powder
  • 1 tsp chilli powder, or to taste
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 10 curry leaves
  • 2 pandan leaves (rampe), if available
  • 400 ml coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • Salt to taste

Method

  1. Toss the beef with the turmeric, chilli powder, curry powder and a good pinch of salt. Leave it 20 minutes while you prepare everything else.
  2. Heat the coconut oil in a heavy pot. Add the cinnamon quills, cloves, peppercorns, curry leaves and pandan, and let them crackle for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
  3. Add the onions and cook slowly until deep golden — 10 minutes at least. This is where the colour of the finished curry comes from.
  4. Stir in the garlic and ginger, cook 2 minutes, then add the beef and brown it all over.
  5. Pour in water to just cover, bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 90 minutes until the beef gives easily to a spoon.
  6. Add the coconut milk and simmer uncovered for a final 15 to 20 minutes to thicken. Check the salt.
  7. Lift out the cinnamon quills and, if you can find them, the cloves before serving.
Tip. Whole spices in, whole spices out. Fish out the quills and as many cloves as you can find — biting into a whole clove will flatten everything else on the plate.

More in the recipe collection, or read about the spices themselves.

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