This Sri Lankan beef curry is so easy to make and delicious too!
My wife and I learned to make this Sri Lankan beef curry at a little restaurant called Inspire in Habarana, Sri Lanka.
It was so good and luckily, the owners offered not only to give us the recipe but to let us make it at the restaurant.
You can see the video below in the recipe. If you like a good beef curry, this authentic Sri Lankan beef curry is one you have to try.
You need to try this. Really easy and tastes amazing!
Simple but the flavours just work!
There aren’t many ingredients in this Sri Lankan beef curry. This is simple food at its best, relying on the freshness and quality of ingredients more than a crazy amount of ingredients.
We found this to be the case at most places we ate in Sri Lanka.
As we were in Sri Lanka, real Sri Lankan cinnamon was used. This isn’t always easy to come by but you can get it online and it’s worth doing. The cinnamon breaks up easily and flavoured the dish so much better than cinnamon cassia which is much easier to find in the west. Use that if you must though.
Which cut of beef?
You should use stewing steak for this as it’s cheaper and has a lot of flavour. The problem with stewing beef is that it takes longer to cook and become tender.
If you are in a rush, you could use a more expensive cut like sirloin or rib-eye but I really do recommend planning and using the cheap stuff.
Step by step photos…
It’s always a good idea to get your ingredients together before you start cooking.
Start by adding the ground ingredients and salt to the beef.
Be sure to mix it all in thoroughly with your hands. Break up the cinnamon stick and add it at this stage too.
Melt the coconut oil over a medium high heat and then add the garlic. Fry until fragrant and be careful not to burn it.
Coconut Oil…
All over Sri Lanka, coconut oil is the oil of choice for cooking.
You could use another cooking oil but coconut oil imparts delicious flavour. It is a must if you want that authentic Sri Lankan beef curry flavour.
Add the curry and pandan leaves, onion and leeks. Fry for about 5 minutes and then stir in the fenugreek seeds.
About those fenugreek seeds…
One thing we learned while in Sri Lanka is that on top of adding a good flavour, fenugreek seeds are used as a sauce thickener.
This was totally new to me. It just doesn’t seem possible but as they cook, the actually thicken the sauce.
Add the beef and stir well to combine.
Add just enough water to cover and add more water as needed until the beef is tender.
I like this curry with a thick sauce. You could make it saucier by not cooking the liquid down as much.
If you like this Sri Lankan beef curry, try some of these Sri Lankan favourites too…
Butternut Squash Curry
Black pork curry
Black chicken curry
Crab curry
3 Meat Curry
Eggplant (Aubergine) curry
Green Bean Curry
Sri Lankan Beef Curry
Ingredients
- 900g (2 lbs) stewing beef, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 generous tsp ground cumin
- 1 generous tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder or another of choice
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 x 5cm ( 2 inch) real cinnamon stick, broken up.*
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 5 cloves garlic, minced (approx. 2 generous tbsp)
- 5cm (2 inches) leek, thinly sliced
- 15 fresh or frozen curry leaves
- ¼ red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
Instructions
- Place the beef in a mixing bowl and add the cumin, chilli powder, black pepper, salt and broken up piece of real cinnamon.*
- Mix well with your hands so that the meat is equally coated and then pour in 250ml (1 cup) of water. Stir it all up and set aside to marinate for a few minutes or even overnight. The longer the better.
- When ready to cook the curry, heat the oil over medium high heat and stir in the garlic. Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds and then add the sliced leek, curry leaves, red onion and fenugreek seeds. If using cassia instead of real cinnamon, it can be added to the oil at this stage too.
- Fry this veggie mixture for about 5 minutes to soften and flavour the oil and then pour in the marinated beef.
- Brown the beef in the oil for a couple of minutes and then pour in just enough water to cover. Place the lid on the pot and simmer over a medium heat for about 40 minutes or until the beef is good and tender. Don’t rush this! It’s ready when it’s ready. If needed, you can always add a drop more water if the sauce is drying up.
- Serve with white basmati rice or red matta rice.
Notes
*If using cassia instead of real cinnamon, add it to the oil with the other fried ingredients.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 295Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 644mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 2g
Della
Saturday 12th of October 2024
Hi there! Planning on trying this tomorrow. Do you think I can make it in the Instant Pot?
Dan Toombs
Monday 14th of October 2024
Yes, this should work well in the Instant Pot. Thanks Dan
neena cholette
Friday 13th of September 2024
Dan, is this recipe in any of your books or is this recently new?
Dan Toombs
Sunday 22nd of September 2024
This recipe will feature in a my beef book which is scheduled for publication early 2026 Thanks Dan
neena cholette
Friday 13th of September 2024
This dish is excellent!! I just made it tonight. I added the Pandan leaves...should you eat these as they are a bit harder in texture vs curry leaves? I am East Indian - just an FYI so I know the flavor of curry leaves and how they react in a dish. My husband is French Canadian and loves this dish!! I think Pandan leaves are more of a Sri Lankan version of curry leaves but with less pungency. Also, from another comment below..I think adding some coconut milk to the dish would calm it down, add flavor and thicken a bit if you want - but otherwise a superb dish! I did not have coconut oil on hand so if you use this..mabye it adds the flavor without having to use coconut milk. Anyway, try it out and see what you like.
Just don't add too much water at the end otherwise the dish tends to stay watery. Excellent dish, highly recommended!
Dan Toombs
Friday 20th of September 2024
Thank you very much, it’s one of my favourites too. You can eat pandan leaves but if you find them a bit hard discard them after cooking as they would have already imparted their flavour. I think coconut milk sounds like a good addition so I’ll try adding a bit of that next time I make it. Thanks very much. Dan
Dan
Monday 6th of November 2023
Another great recipe that we enjoyed. Thanks! For a different approach, I would imagine simmering the beef in coconut milk (instead of water) would be really good. Have you ever prepared it this way?
Dan Toombs
Monday 6th of November 2023
I haven’t ever tried it that way but it sounds like it would be delicious. Thanks Dan
Alan Smith
Saturday 28th of October 2023
My other half doesn’t eat red meat. If I used chicken does it make a big difference to the overall taste?
Dan Toombs
Wednesday 1st of November 2023
You could definitely make this with chicken. Thanks Dan