Hearty Beef Stew

For me beef stew is the ultimate comfort food. Delicious chunks of marbled, chunky beef - seared first, then cooked low and slow. Its a time consuming dish, but it's well worth the wait. Its also a dish that can be prepared a day in advance as the flavour intensifies the longer it sits.

It's important to get a cut of meat that does well with being cooked low and slow like brisket or chuck. Make sure that the meat is not boneless and that it is marbled i.e. is has white veins of fat running through it. Don't use lean cuts of meat.

You can also add other veggies like carrots to bulk up this stew

Ingredients

1 kg beef (chuck or brisket)

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

300g potatoes, washed and cut into chunks

200g large brown mushrooms, sliced

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tbsp hot curry powder

1 Cape malay curry powder

2 and 1/2 cups of beef stock

5 ml canola oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. On high heat, sear the meat in batches. Searing meat adds depth of flavour. Set the beef aside.

2. In the same pot that you used to sear the meat, Fry onion in the canola oil until soft and translucent. Add garlic to the sautéing onion.

2. Add tomato paste and sugar to the onion garlic mix, the sugar is for counteracting the acidity of the tomato paste. Add the seasonings - including the stock.

4. Reduce heat to medium, add the beef back into the pot.

5. Simmer the beef for about 1 and 1/2 hours, at this point add the potatoes and mushrooms.

6. Simmer for a further hour or until the beef is soft.

7. Serve the beef stew with rice, mash or isonka samanzi (steamed bread)