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Aloo Gosht (Spicy Beef and Potato Stew)
Updated July 22, 2024
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- Total Time
- 3 hours
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 45 minutes, plus about 2 hours’ braising
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1½pounds boneless beef chuck or short ribs, cut into 2-inch cubes
- Salt and black pepper
- 4tablespoons vegetable oil
- 7black peppercorns
- 4cloves (optional)
- 1tablespoon ginger paste or freshly grated ginger
- 1tablespoon garlic paste or freshly grated garlic
- 1large onion, thinly sliced
- 1½teaspoons Kashmiri or other mild red chile powder
- ½teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2teaspoons garam masala
- 4roma tomatoes, chopped or 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 to 4Thai green chiles, sliced (with or without seeds, depending on your desired level of heat)
- 3cups unsalted beef stock (optional), plus more if necessary
- 3medium red potatoes, cut into 1½-inch pieces
- ¼cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped
- Lemon wedges, for serving
- Cooked rice or roti, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Season beef with about 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and set aside.
- Step 2
In a large, heavy pot (with a tight fitting lid), heat 2 tablespoons of oil on high until shimmering, about 45 seconds. Lay half the beef in a single layer in the pot, leaving space between pieces. Cook until well browned on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes, transferring the pieces to a plate as they brown. Repeat with remaining beef.
- Step 3
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the pot. Quickly stir in the peppercorns and cloves, if using, followed by the ginger and garlic, and continue to stir for 20 seconds, until toasty and fragrant. Add the onion. Continue cooking until the onion is transparent, lowering the heat as necessary so the onion doesn’t burn. Add the red chile powder, turmeric and half the garam masala. Stir to combine, then add the tomatoes, green chile(s) and 1 teaspoon salt. Continue stirring, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. (If using canned tomatoes, skip to Step 4). Cook until the tomatoes have broken down completely, about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Step 4
Add the stock, if using, or 3 cups water, and return the beef to the pot (see Tip). When the stew starts to simmer, put a lid on it and transfer to the oven. Cook, undisturbed, for 90 minutes.
- Step 5
Without completely removing the lid, so that most of the heat doesn’t escape, slip in the potatoes. (The potatoes should be about three-quarters’ submerged. If they are not, quickly add more broth or water). Continue braising until the potatoes are tender, about 35 minutes.
- Step 6
Garnish with remaining garam masala and the cilantro. Serve with lemon wedges, and rice or roti to soak up all the flavorful braising liquid.
- To make the stew over two days, after returning the beef to the pot in Step 4, let cool and store the stew in the fridge. About two hours before serving, remove the stew from the fridge, heat the oven to 350 degrees, bring the stew to a simmer on the stove and continue Step 4 through the end of the recipe.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
The only thing you’re skipping if you use canned tomatoes is cooking them down. In that case, skip TO step 4.
It was excellent. It took a while but totally worth it. It will become one of our favorites for sure
What intrepid Instant Potter is going to give us a pressure cooker conversion?
Fabulous recipe. Made it with ghee instead of oil, otherwise exactly as written. Quick, add it to the rotation! Lol
If you skip to step 5 when using canned tomatoes, you never put the beef into the pot, which is step 4. I use more ginger and garlic, add cumin (thanks to another reader), and hold back on the chiles because some family doesn't like much heat, and it was delicious.
Absolutely delicious, going into our regular rotation. I wouild not call it "fiery;" I'd say it's a rich, deep spice. The only changes I made were putting in all the garam masala at once (by accident) and adding carrots and peas. Five stars for sure.
What happened to the canned tomatoes. Instructions say skip to step 5. But no reference to canned tomatoes in step 5.
It seems odd to not have cumin seeds in this recipe.
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