Anglo-Indian Beef Jalfrezi ❤

When I was a child Jalfrezi was one of my favourite dishes. I loved the way the meat and potatoes were fried up. A roast beef dinner was usually a sign we were going to have jalfrezi the next day as this dish was originally created in order to use up the left over roast...  It has Anglo Indian roots, believed to have first been cooked in Calcutta and was a favourite among the British living in India, a dish created to be less spicy than traditional curries and using up leftover meat, although we do sometimes cook this from scratch.

My mother still cooks this for us and we always eat it with rice, dhal, fried red chilies, salad and pepper water. Alternatively if you don't like rice you can have it with chapatis, wraps or even quinoa (my husband loves it in wraps). Pepper water is made from spices and tamarind. It is used as an accompaniment for drier dishes and can be made very hot and spicy!





Beef Jalfrezi Recipe

Ingredients 

Leftover roast beef (You can use lamb but we prefer beef)
3 Chopped onions
Ground garlic and ginger paste
5 Cubed potatoes fried until brown and cooked
Black pepper

Method

Cut the left over meat into cubes and keep aside. I usually fry my cubed potatoes in a wok using sunflower or corn oil. Drain these on kitchen paper and keep aside, that way most of the prep is done. Fry the chopped onion and ginger and garlic paste until turning nice and brown (save about one raw chopped onion because you will need this at the end of the dish) 

Add the cubed meat with the black pepper (I use about two teaspoons depending on how peppery you want it) and fry up on a medium heat until it slightly catches. This dish is meant to be dry so make sure you fry it nicely. Once this is done add some salt to taste remembering you will add the potatoes so season well. Turn off the heat and add the fried potatoes. Mix well but be gentle as you do not want the potatoes to smash up. Scatter the chopped onion on top and dust some more black pepper. Now the jalfrezi is ready to eat! Serve with some plain white rice, dhal and pepper water. You can also make a plain salad of tomatoes, onions, cucumber and coriander. Enjoy!!!!! ❤

Just a tip - if you want to cook this from scratch and have no leftover roast then buy some good beef. After you have fried the onions, ginger and garlic then add and fry the meat. You will have to add some water so it does not stick and can pop a beef stock cube in for flavour, cook until soft and the water has dried up then follow the rest of the steps..