spicy beef roast

[cheerypeabrain]

This is based on a recipe by Asma Khan. I made changes to suit what I had in the cupboards/fridge

4 dried chillis (I used chilli flakes)
1 tbspn desiccated coconut
1 tbsp poppy seeds (I used black onion seeds)
Half tspn coriander seeds
1 tspn cummin seeds
(I was slightly more generous with the cumin)
Ghee (I used rapeseed oil)
2 chopped onions
7 oz natural yogurt (I used 0% Greek yogurt)
2 tbspn garlic paste (I used 4 cloves garlic grated)
2 tbspn ginger paste ( I used a nub of fresh ginger, grated)
1 tbspn fennel seeds
1 - 1 1/2 tbsp salt (nope...used a teaspoonful!)
3lb 5oz topside of beef trimmed of all fat. (My beef was only about 1.5 lb)

method

Dry roast the coconut,chilli, poppy, coriander and cumin seeds until they darken and release their aromas...spread on a plate to cool. Then grind into a fine powder.

Add ghee or oil to a frying pan and cook the onions until caramelised. Cool on a plate then whizz in a blender or just mash them.

In a large bowl mix up the yogurt, toasted spice/coconut mixture, mashed onions, garlic and ginger, fennel seeds and salt. Mix until well combined.

Make deep slashes in the beef then work in the marinade covering all the surface of the meat.
Leave to marinate for at least 2 hours in the fridge, take out of the fridge to allow it to come back to room temperature before cooking.
Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6
Heat a little gee/oil in the roasting tin before adding the mixture covered meat and popping it in the oven
1 hour for medium rare. Baste during cooking etc...my little joint took less time.

Remove from the oven and cover with foil, leave to stand for at least 10 minutes before carving.


Im sure that you could use your air fryer...

[tod2]

Thank you Cheery - I might use lamb instead. I was wondering if one could use coconut cream from a tin if desiccated coconut is not readily at hand? I'm sure that would work.

[cheerypeabrain]

I always see a recipe as a guideline...unless the ingredients are critical for it to work...like bread or a cake etc...I tend to adapt and experiment. I think that it would be lovely with lamb and don't see why coconut cream wouldn't work, maybe reduce the amount of yogurt so it's not too sloppy.

[tod2]

I have just remembered that some years ago we were invited to a Muslim house for dinner. The hostess had prepared a leg of mutton - not lamb, by slashing cuts into the raw meat then rubbing if generously with a spicy marinade. It was so delicious after roasting for hours in the oven. She gladly presented me with a bottle of her special spice. I used it for over a year. These days one can buy it ready made but I will go with Asma's spices. She ended the meal with avocado ice cream. Another wonderful unusual taste.

[kerouac2]

I just wish that mutton were available in stores rather than just lamb, which has become flavourless most of the time. I suppose that any sheep that manages to live past adolescence ends up as pet food in the developed world.

I prefer both roast beef and roast lamb to be pink in the middle, obviously.

[tod2]

Kerouac, I'm puzzled. I would lay a bet that the Muslim -Sulliman - butcheries like I experienced in Crimee would sell mutton. If they can sell Ox balls, surely mutton which must firstly have a tail, is available.