Slow Cooker Beef Curry: Ultimate One-Pot Recipe

Source video by My Little Kitchen on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

This is an adaptation of My Little Kitchen's one-pot slow-cooked beef curry for the slow cooker. Chunky pieces of beef shoulder are simmered in a deeply spiced masala of caramelised onions, tomatoes, dried Kashmiri chillies and warm whole spices. The result is fall-apart tender beef in a thick, fragrant gravy. Finished with garam masala, kasuri methi and fresh coriander for a bright lift.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kgboneless beef shoulder, cut into chunky 4 to 5cm pieces
• 3 tbspcoconut oil
• 3 largeonions, sliced
• 1 tin (400g)chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbspginger paste
• 1 tbspgarlic paste
• 400 mlboiled water

• 4 wholedried Kashmiri chillies
• 2 leavesbay leaves
• 1 stickcinnamon stick
• 1 podblack cardamom pod

• 1.5 tspsalt
• 2 tspcoriander powder
• 2 tspKashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tspturmeric powder
• 1 tspchilli powder

• 1 tspgaram masala (add late)
• 1 tbspkasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves), crushed between palms (add late)
• 2 tbspfresh coriander, chopped (add late)

Method

1. Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan over a low to medium heat. Add the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, black cardamom pod and whole dried Kashmiri chillies. Sizzle for around 30 seconds to release their aroma.

   ~2 min

2. Add the sliced onions and cook gently for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and a light golden brown. This step builds the base flavour and cannot be skipped in the slow cooker.

   ~20 min

3. Stir in the ginger and garlic and fry for around 1 minute to cook off the raw edge.

   ~1 min

4. Add all the ground spices (salt, coriander powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric and chilli powder) along with the chopped tomatoes. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until the tomatoes start to break down.

   ~4 min

5. Tip the onion and spice base into the slow cooker. Add the chunks of beef shoulder and stir to coat thoroughly in the masala.

   ~3 min

6. Pour in 400 ml of boiled water and stir. Place the lid on and cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 4 to 5 hours, until the beef is fall-apart tender.

7. Around 30 minutes before serving, sprinkle in the garam masala and the kasuri methi, crushing the kasuri methi between your palms first. Stir through and replace the lid.

   ~1 min

8. If the gravy looks too thin, remove the lid and cook on High for a further 20 to 30 minutes to thicken. The finished masala should be thick and glossy.

   ~30 min

9. Stir through the fresh coriander just before serving. Serve with rice, naan or chapatis.

   ~1 min

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