In keeping with the Indian food theme (Onion & Garlic Naan recipe), here’s a quick & delish weeknight main course. It requires a few special ingredients…but once you have ’em you can give an Indian flavor to all sorts of things like eggs, potatoes & veggies. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 T olive oil
- 6 black peppercorns
- 4 green cardamom pods (see NOTES)
- 2 black cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 red onion, halved & sliced thin crosswise
- 1 t garlic, minced
- 1 t ginger, minced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 3/4 t salt
- 2 t ground coriander
- 2 t chile powder
- 1/2 t ground turmeric
- 1/2 t ground cumin
- 10 oz tomatoes (fresh or canned), chopped
- 1/4 c plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1 jalapeno, halved lengthwise (optional)
- 1/4 c cilantro, chopped
Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add peppercorns, cardamom pods & cinnamon stick. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 30 sec. Add onion & cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is browned, 7 to 10 min.
Add garlic & ginger & cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 30 sec. Add beef & salt. Increase heat to med-high & cook, stirring to break up meat into very small pieces & scraping up any browned bits. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture sizzles & bottom of saucepan appears dry, 7 to 12 min longer.
Add coriander, chile powder, turmeric & cumin & cook, stirring occasionally, until spices are well distributed & fragrant, about 1 min. Add tomatoes, yogurt & chile (if using) & cook, stirring frequently, until tomatoes release their juice & mixture begins to simmer, about 2 min. Adjust heat to maintain gentle simmer. Cover & cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes have broken down & wooden spoon scraped across bottom of saucepan leaves clear trail, 12 to 18 min. Stir in cilantro & season with salt & pepper to taste. Serve with rice or naan.
NOTES:
- If you can’t find both green & black cardamom pods, use one or the other.
- If you can’t find any cardamom pods at all, add a bit of ground cardamom to beef mixture when you add in the other spices.
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated