Succulent tender pieces of beef cooked with aromatic Indian spices. What’s not to love about this Kerala beef fry, or in Malayalam “beef ularthiyathu”? Nothing at all, to be honest.
As a family favorite, this is one of the recipes I learned to cook when I started my cooking adventures. During those initial years of kitchen experiments, I used to add meat masala to the beef. But I was not happy with the end result.
After playing around with the recipe for a while, I discovered that using whole spices and garam masala gives it much more flavour. There you go. Swapping meat masala with whole spice guaranteed flavorful beef fry that everyone loved.
To make this Kerala beef fry, simply cook beef along with ground spices, onions and tomatoes in your pressure cooker. Then stir fry in whole spices until it gets a deep dark brown color. Done!
The coconut bits are totally optional in this recipe, but it gives a crunchy texture and nice contrast to the whole dish.
I had shared this recipe here on the blog back in 2012, but I thought I’d share it again with new pictures.
Enjoy this Kerala beef fry with your next lunch or dinner!
The first step is to cook beef in pressure cooker along with all the ground spices (turmeric, coriander, red chili powder, black pepper powder, and garam masala), onions, tomatoes, a sprig of curry leaves, coconut slices, green chilies (if using), ginger, garlic and enough salt. Place the pressure cooker over high heat. Remove from heat after the sixth or seventh whistle. Let the pressure cooker cool slightly. Open it after all the steam escapes. Place the cooker again over medium-high heat (without the lid this time). Simmer until all water dries up. And this is (see the picture above) what you get.
Now heat oil in another pan. Add mustard seeds. Allow to pop. Add whole spices - cardamom, bay leaves, fennel seeds, cloves. Add 1 sprig of curry leaves. Fry for a minute.
Add shallots. Fry until browned. Add cooked beef. Fry over medium-high heat until it gets a dark brown color. The more you fry, the more color you will get.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
More Beef Recipes
Keral Beef Fry | Beef Ularthiyathu
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef fillet cut into cubes
- 1 large onion sliced
- 1 large tomato roughly chopped
- 8-10 garlic cloves chopped
- 3 cm fresh ginger chopped
- ½ cup coconut slices
- 2 large green chilies sliced (optional) (I didn’t use)
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 3 tablespoon ground coriander
- 3 tablespoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2-3 cardamom pods
- 3 bay leaves
- 3-4 cloves
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ¼ cup sliced shallots or red onions
- 2 sprigs of curry leaves
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Place beef, sliced onions, tomato, garlic, ginger, coconut slices, and green chilies (if using), 1 sprig of curry leaves and enough salt in a pressure cooker. Stir in ground turmeric, ground black pepper, ground coriander, garam masala and red chili powder. Cover the cooker with the lid, and cook over high flame until the sixth or seventh whistle.
- Remove from heat. Allow the cooker to cool slightly. When the steam has escaped, open the cooker, and place it over medium-high heat. Simmer until all the water dries up.
- Heat oil in another large pan over medium-high heat. Splutter mustard seeds. Add fennel seeds, cardamom pods, bay leaves and cloves. Add rest of curry leaves. Fry for a minute or until aromatic. Add shallots. Saute, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Stir in cooked beef. Reduce the heat to medium. Saute, stirring occasionally, for 5- 10 minutes or until the beef gets a deep dark brown color. Remove from heat.
- Garnish with coriander leaves if you like. Serve warm with rice or any flat bread.
Nutrition
Like this Kerala beef fry recipe? Then join Nish Kitchen on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. Watch exclusive recipe videos on YouTube. Don't forget to check other Kerala recipes:
- Kerala Duck Curry
- Spicy Lamb Stir Fry
- Kerala Mussels Fry or Kallumakkaya Fry or Kadukka Fry
- Kerala Prawns Fry
CHCooks says
Love the pictures Rose 🙂
Anu-My Ginger Garlic Kitchen says
This looks so authentic and delicious. Lovely share.
Traditionallymodernfood says
Nice click Rose .. Dish looks perfect
Tima says
In pressure cooker how many tea cups of water per kg?
Nish Kitchen says
As the beef cooks in the cooker, water will come out of beef which is more than enough to cook it. So I don't usually add any water to it. Hope that helps!
Kate says
Very interesting recipe. Can it be made if you don’t have a pressure cooker?
Rose Mary George says
Yes, you can cook it over the stove top. 🙂
Latha says
My mom makes this on special occasions. But I can never get the recipe right. Can this be made in an instant pot? If so, how shall I do it?
Rose Mary George says
Yes, you can make this in an instant pot. Follow the recipe instructions in Step 1. Cook beef for about 20 minutes in the instant pot. To fry the beef after cooking, follow the instructions in steps 2, 3 & 4. Then you can garnish with coriander or curry leaves. 🙂