My better half loves beef – well, that’s an understatement. If there is one meat he could live with for the rest of his life – that would be beef. So I always experiment around the kitchen on how I could make variations of it that would score me some ‘good girl’ points with him which I could exchange for chocolates later on 😀

I can’t really recall how I care about creating this recipe coz it’s not something I recall from my childhood days.  So my best guess is that it was a bit of inspiration picked while food blog hopping. That is actually what I really love about cooking – you don’t have to follow a recipe to the dot to create something spectacular, all you need is a little bit of inspiration and plenty of originality and creativity and you’re good to go.

So, here’s my drool worthy, better-half approved beef fry.  It really is a must try.

 

Cast of Characters:

• Beef  – as much as you would like, I recommend making a big batch
• Red Onions – cut into rings
• Curry leaves
• Soya Sauce
• Salt & Pepper
• Vinegar
• Chilli flakes
• Oil
• Lemon juice

 

The Props:

• A wok to deep fry (Alternatively, you could ‘Airfry’ the beef in an Airfryer, more on that later)
• A slotted spoon
• A bowl
• Paper towels

 

How to:

• Wash the beef well and marinate it with salt, vinegar and plenty of coarse black pepper and a dash of soya sauce
• Heat up a deep frying wok and bring the oil to a medium – high heat and deep fry the pieces of beef until they are well cooked and dark brown & crispy around the edges. Do not overcrowd the wok as it won’t crisp up the meat.
• Use the same wok you used to crisp up some curry leaves – ensure the curry leaves are dry when the hit the oil, as wet curry leaves will create a bit of splatter and noise if dropped into hot oil.
• Line the beef on some paper towels to soak up any excess oil and mix it with lime juice and some chilli flakes while it’s still warm.
• Mix in the beef, the onion rings and the curry leaves all in a bowl and check one more time for seasoning (i.e – salt, chilli flakes and lime) and adjust to taste.

 

Sidekicks:

• This is absolutely delish with some pipping hot rice,a dhal curry and some papadam or as an accompaniment to any rice and curry meal.
• Great as a snack by itself as well, which is the case at my home half the time 😉

 

A healthier version:

• Though my better half and I both totally love this dish, it was never a regular item as it involves deep frying – which I detest for a few reasons – It’s messes up my kitchen, I end up wasting a lot of oil and most importantly it’s not too good for your health!
• So when I won myself a Philips Airfryer (more on this on a later post!), I handed over my entire ‘frying’ process to the Airfryer with glee! All I had to do was marinate the meat as per earlier instructions and toss it with about a teaspoon of oil and dump it into the airfryer in a few batches for about 15-20 mins or until crisp and cooked. I added in the curry leaves along with the final batch and also threw in a few cloves of garlic for some extra kick.
• The next few steps were exactly the same.
• Unfortunately I did not snap a picture of this version, but will do so when I make it next.