This recipe was influenced an old school friend’s mum. She’s Chinese, and as a teen I would spend all of my time at their home. I have to say everything she cooked was delicious, even her toast in the morning tasted amazing; I have no idea how she buttered it!

My favourite however, was her Chinese Curry, I always hoped that would be on the menu when I stayed over.

I lost touch with this friend for a while but always remembered this curry and started to try different recipes out to recreate the taste I once loved as a teen. Finally, one day I came up with this recipe that tasted as good as the dish I remembered.

Fifteen years later we got back in touch, I luckily was invited over to her mum’s to have a curry one day. This time I asked about her recipe, and I was very pleased to know it was very similar to mine, only slight differences, but ultimately I had succeeded…

• 5 fresh tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. curry powder
• 1/2 pint beef stock
• 2″ chunk of ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 red birds eye chillies
• 1 onion, diced into chunks
• 2  carrots, sliced
• 500g stewing beef/ braising steak, diced
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tsp. chinese 5 spice
• 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
• 2 tsp. fish sauce
• 2 star anise
• 2″ chunk of coconut cream block, roughly chopped
• Salt & Pepper
• Sunflower Oil for frying

• Cut the Tomatoes into wedges and sprinkle with brown sugar, set aside.
• Whisk the curry powder into the stock, set aside.
• Using a blender, blend the ginger, garlic and chilli into a paste. You can finely chop this but it’s so much easier and quicker this way.
• Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions until they are translucent. Then add in the carrots and the garlic/ginger/chilli mix. Fry for a few minutes.
• Add the beef to the pan and brown the meat on all sides, season with salt and pepper.
• Add the paprika, coriander and five spice, stir the pan until the beef is coated in these spices.
• Pour in the stock then stir in the soy sauce, fish sauce and star anise.
• Add the tomatoes with all of the sugar and juices; stir well.
• Let this bubble away to cook the beef until tender. I actually find it best to put the pan in the oven. (I heat it to 180 degrees) Do not cover as you want the liquid to reduce. Equally you can let this bubble away on low on the hob.
• After 35 minutes I would taste the curry and see if it needs more seasoning, if it does add a little soy rather than the salt. It should be hot and sweet, you can adjust this to your taste buds by adding more sugar or chilli.
• Once the beef is falling apart add the coconut block and cook for a further 15 minutes, this melts and will thicken the sauce.
• Voila your curry is ready serve.

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Enjoy xx

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