Irfan Sajjad’s mejbani beef

Since I am from Chittagong, I want to introduce TBS readers to traditional mejbani beef recipe of Chittagong. Although, I am not an expert, I have to make the dish at small family get-togethers very often. While cooking the dish, you will have to be careful with the amount of spices.

Ingredients:  

1kg beef (cut into small pieces)

1/2 tbl spoon ginger paste

1 cup thinly sliced onion

1/2 cup onion paste 1/2 tbl spoon garlic paste

Mustard oil+ any vegetable oil

Salt to taste

1 tea spoon turmeric powder

1 tea spoon coriander powder

6/7 green cardamom

2 cinnamon stick

1 tea spoon cloves

1 tea spoon black pepper

2 bay leaves

Special red chilli powder 2/3tsp. (I use the special sweet red chili powder from Chittagong).
Green chillies (4-8)

1/2tbs sugar

4 to 5 Fried potatoes     

Special masala mix for the beef

1/2 tea spoon poppy seed (dry roasted)

2-3 green cardamom

2-3 clove

1/2 (half) tbl spoon black pepper

1/2 tea spoon Mace/ Javetri powder ( dry roasted)

1/2 tea spoon nutmeg powder

Method:

Marinate the beef for an hour, with all the ingredients, except thinly sliced onion, sugar and bay leaves. Heat oil in a pan and add the thinly sliced onion. Fry until dark brown.

Now add the marinated beef and cook for 4-5 minutes. And cook on low flame for at least 1 and 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally and adding water little by little. Cover the pan with a lid.

Add the fried potatoes towards the end.

A few things to keep in mind:

Don't forget to clean and drain the beef properly to avoid extra water in the meat. The beef should be cut into small pieces. Cook the dish on low heat and keep the pan covered with a lid.