Recipes KORMA BEEF SHIN & POTATO PIE

KORMA BEEF SHIN & POTATO PIE

Prep 15 mins
Cooking 45 mins
Serves 4-6

I think of Korma as a curry for beginners. Probably the mildest of all the Indian spice blends, Korma is the one to try out on children and spice novices. Mild of course does not necessarily equate boring. With no fewer than eleven spices making up the Cape Herb & Spice Exotic Korma spice blend, how could it? Cardamom and fennel provide a marvelously perfumed base note, while warming turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, coriander and cumin give it wonderful depth. Now, normally a Korma is served curry-and-rice style. But there’s so much more you could do with it. Like making this pocket-friendly beef shin and potato pie.

Create the Korma pie filling on the stovetop and then transfer it to a pie dish before it goes in the oven. However, if you have a shallow stove-to-oven saucepan or casseroledish you could go the one-pot route and spare yourself some washing up.

This recipe comes to you with a choice: 1) The high road – which involves yoghurt and shortcrust pastry or… 2) The low road – which, rather predictably, involves cream and buttery puff pastry. The choice of course is yours, but with the evenings growing cooler I think I may just opt for the very belly-pleasing richer low road, and hit the gym 15 minutes earlier the morning after.

 

- WHAT YOU WILL NEED -

  • 800g beef shin, cut into bite-sized cubes
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • 4 Tbsp flour, mixed with a pinch of salt & black pepper
  • 1 cup onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbsp KORMA
  • 2 xlrg potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • ½ cup cream/ ½ cup low fat plain yoghurt
  • Salt to taste
  • Store-bought puff pastry/ shortcrust pastry
  • 1 egg, whisked with 2 Tbsp water/ milk

- METHOD -

Toss the beef cubes in the flour and shake off any excess. Fry the beef off in a splash of vegetable oil until nicely caramelized. (You’ll need to do this in batches. If you crowd the pan, your meat will not brown.) Set the browned shin aside and fry the onion over low heat in the same pan for five minutes. (Add a dash more oil if needed.) Next add the garlic and Korma spice and fry for a further minute.

Add the meat back to the pan along with any resting juices. Add the potatoes and stock, cover and turn the heat down low. Simmer until the shin is soft, stirring it from time to time to prevent it sticking to the bottom and adding a bit more water if it is cooking dry. Once the shin is soft, add the cream or yoghurt and stir through. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Allow the pie filling to cool, then cover with the pastry. Make a slit in the middle of the pastry to allow steam to escape during baking. Paint the pastry with the egg wash and bake in a 200º C oven until the pastry is cooked through and golden.

Recipe concept & photography by Lizet Hartley.

Lizet Hartley is a freelance stills and reel food stylist, food photographer and recipe developer. In her spare time she – rather predictably – cooks. Get more of her recipes on her blog at http://www.melkkos-merlot.co.za

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