One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
After that rather theatrical name we must get down to brasstacks. The first part of the name comes from King Ram from the great indian Ramayan and baan the arrow or missile he used to vanquish the great demon / Rakshasa , Ravan. This term was used for a base onion and tomato gravy in my hotel company many many years back which used to go into allmost all the Indian food and thus the second part of the Tolkien title from the One Ring.
heres how we do it
oil -10 ml butter15 gm cumin -¼ tsp cardamom green-2 cinnamon- 1 small pc
cloves 2-3 Heat oil, add butter and whole spices then add 500 gms chopped onions and saute on low heat till light brown. Add ¼ tsp coriander pdr, 1/8tsp cumin powder, pinch turmeric powder. Add in about 20 gms of ginger and garlic paste. continue to saute. Add in 400 gm tin of chopped tomatoes , and slow cook till the oil starts to separate out.
This version of meat comes from a transmogrified version of a Barbacoa, but flavoured with traditional south Indian spice mix where they would shudder at the mere thought of the holy cow tainting the spices .Never mind the fact that the neighbouring state Kerala has plenty of Beef Pepper fry .
But never mind we must go boldly where no man has gone before . We will then take it further and serve this rich spice laden stupedous concoction and put it in a bao or a sourdough bun or even a dosa .Our recipe serves 4 hungry people or more if you only serve it as finger food
Beef rump or similar-600 g For the marinade Yoghurt- 2 TB/55 gms approximately Turmeric – 1/4 tsp , 2 gms Ginger and Garlic paste- 2 t /10 gms Salt- 1 For the gravy Oil- 1T /20 gm Curry leaves- 1 sprig/ 1 gms green chilli- 2 ea/ 5 gms Onions brown peeled and chopped-250 gms Tomato crushed/ Tomato passata – 75 gms coriander powder- 1 t/ 5gm cumin powder- 1/2 t / 2 gm chipotle chilli – 5 gms- coconut cream- 100 ml For the dry spice mix Cardamom green- 3 ea Cloves- 2 cinnamon stick – 1 small Bayleaf- 1/2- The indian bayleaf is actually a cassia cinnamon leaf called tej patta, if you dont have that then use bay, dessicated coconut- 1T/ 15 gms peppercorns- 8-10 star anise/anasi poo- 1/2 fennel seeds- 1/2 t Dagadphool/Kalpasi- 1-2 gms this gives it a unique aroma Toast all in the microwave and then grind to a coarse mix Method. Marinate beef, ideally overnight, if pressed for time then atleast a few hours. for the gravy, heat oil add curry leaves , and green chilli and then the chopped onions, sand saute till brown add the powder spices and tomato and cook till the oil starts to separate from the mix.
Garnish with toasted sliced coconut ..
stories of foods from the world over, laced with a hint of sarcasm and some black humour, its not for everyone, but then never was meant to be..
