A cry is a cross between a dry fry and a curry. Colloquially used to mean meat with very little gravy, Beef/Erachi Varattiyathu is a flavorful and easy dish in malabar houses.
Mostly slow cooked, to let the spices be absorbed and to gauge the tenderness of the meat accurately; but it can be pressure cooked for 2-5 minutes and then further simmered to let the flavor sink in.
Cooking time:1 hr
You'll need:
Beef -1 kg/2lbs
Small green chillies -15
Ginger -2 inch long piece
Garlic -10 cloves
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Roasted Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Red chili powder -2 tsp
Black pepper powder - 1 heaped tsp
Fenugreek seeds -1 tsp
Fennel powder -1 1/2 tsp
Mint, curry leaves, coriander leaves - A handful of each, washed and chopped
Any oil - 2 tbsp (coconut oil tastes the best)
Salt to taste
Tempering:
Shallots -15 peeled and sliced
Curry leaves
Preparation:
1.Clean and cut the beef into small pieces.
2.Grind ginger, green chillies and garlic into a paste and mix everything except tempering ingredients with the beef, adding the powders and the chopped leaves. Keep aside for a while.
3.Place the marinated beef in a pressure cooker or a thick bottom pan or slow cooker. Slow cook the meat on low heat and covered for 1hr, and stirred once in a while to prevent it from sticking to the pan. Alternately, pressure cook the meat for 2-5 minutes on low heat after the first whistle and then open the cooker and let the extra liquid dry up on medium high heat.
4.Heat 2-3 tsp oil, put in 4-5 curry leaves and then fry the shallots till transparent. Add in the meat, mix well and saute till dry. Add more oil to fry it deeper if you like it like that.
