Kerala’s love for beef dishes is quite famous. Fried, roasted or as spicy curry, beef dishes could be paired with appam, porotta, pathiri or even rice. Most people enjoy experimenting with ingredients in order to create something unique and delicious.
The purpose of cooking is not just enhancing the flavour, aroma or texture of an ingredient. Cooking makes a food item safe to consume too. The chemical processes during cooking alter the shape and texture of food items, especially meat. The red meat becomes pink in colour when it is half-cooked. It then transforms into a greyish shade when the meat is cooked perfectly. The meat gets tender and the fat melts when it is slow-cooked on low heat. Besides getting a greyish colour, the cooked meat begins to smell wonderful.
You could add a piece of pineapple or papaya to get the beef cooked swiftly. However, if you are cooking beef in a pressure cooker, do not cook on high flame. It is better to pressure cook beef on low flame to make the meat tender and tasty.
Check out this simple yet delicious recipe shared by Chef Arun Vijayan:
Ingredients
500 gm thinly sliced beef
80 ml coconut oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
120 gm chopped shallots
50 gm onions
50 gm tomatoes
1 sprig curry leaves
2 chopped green chillies
10 shallots
Salt as required
2 gm turmeric powder
3 gm fennel powder
5 gm coriander powder
10 gm pepper powder
10 gm garam masala powder
Preparation
Cook the beef with salt, pepper powder and turmeric powder
Heat coconut oil in a pan
Sauté ginger, garlic, shallots, onion, curry leaves and green chillies
Add salt as required
When these turn brown in colour, add the tomatoes
Cook until the tomatoes are nice and mushy
Into it add turmeric powder, fennel powder, coriander powder, pepper powder and garam masala
Sauté until these turn aromatic
Add the cooked beef along with the cooking water
Mix well
Add thickly chopped onion slices and first extract of coconut milk
Cook on simmer until the gravy thickens
Now add chopped curry leaves and green chillies
Delicious beef peralan is ready.
You could serve this dish with boiled tapioca or with soft appam.