Without exaggerating, I can honestly say that I was gobsmacked by the success of this dish!
Unfortunately, I can't really take the credit for it either (I wish I could!), aside from offering tips gleaned from my own experience, and lots of warnings about what might happen to the meat in the Thermomix if it was cooked on the wrong setting etc.! Well I knew the flavours were going to be good, as we've been cooking our version(s) of beef madras for years, loosely based on an authentic recipe which has evolved over the years, but would probably originally have been cooked with hogget (sheep) or lamb; but this one is down to my lovely man, Mike. Don't worry, the non-Thermomix way of cooking it is included below, for once (rather than on top). But this is a bit of a breakthrough in Thermomix land, so it has to come first on this occasion!
I have resisted cooking anything which should be slow-cooked in the Thermomix ever since I've had one. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolutely amazing machine. It does things you can often only dream of doing without one. However, previously I wouldn't have dreamed of slow-cooking in it, much like I wouldn't dream of stir-frying in it either (although I do have ways around this for certain dishes which I think can work). I'm a bit anal about cooking (well, you might have noticed...!), to say the least and for me, slow cooking occurs in a large, earthenware, ceramic or cast iron vessel in a low oven (much like stir-frying generally occurs in a nice hot wok where I can toss the food around to my hearts content).
Ordinarily, I have great faith in Mike's cooking - which is well deserved as he is a fantastic cook (I don't think I could live with a 'can't cook, won't cook' type of person who didn't love good food!). But I was on tenterhooks for him, expecting at best tough meat that needed to go into the oven for an hour or so, and at worst, babyfood. Especially after the 'crime' caramels...
Anyway, it didn't happen. Fantastic curry happened, and without further ado, here is the recipe!
Serves six as a main meal on its own, or more with other dishes. 655 calories per portion - worst case scenario (for a sixth) - however this is based on full fat stewing steak, plus every tablespoon of oil you skim off at the end is about 145 calories, so if you're counting, you can get this down a fair amount! [Calories in square brackets]
