Sri Lankan Beef Curry Dinner

Sometimes you can just read a recipe and see where it's going wrong, but I cooked it as it was written anyway...and it was wrong.  First off, I agree with everyone else - double the toasted spices and keep everything else the same.  I accidentally doubled the black pepper and although I love black pepper, it was a bit too much.  Also, I cooked it for two hours in an oven-safe, cast-iron enamel dutch oven at 325 for two hours, and the meat came out perfect.  The cooking directions are really poor in terms of the pre-simmer cooking.  An hour of "marinating" isn't going to impart any real flavor to the beef, and cooking meat coated with dry spices in a pan with nothing but non-stick spray results in burned spices and poorly browned beef.  Cook it like you would any basic curry.  Brown the meat in a bit of oil, in two batches, adding more oil as necessary.  After the beef is browned and removed, add the onions and peppers and let them start to work on deglazing the frond.  Add the garlic and ginger for the last minute so as not to burn or overly brown them.  Toss in the spices and cook for about thirty seconds and then add the liquid, scrape up the frond, add the meat, and simmer.  The recipe does take a while, so it's not exactly an easy weeknight dish, though getting rid of the pointless hour of letting the meat sit with the spice coating does save some time.

Made to recipe.  Needed to simmer about 3hrs.  Topped with some coriander leaves & served with basmati/green peas.  Very good.

I made this for the first time the other night and it was very well-received by my family! As with a number of the CL recipes I make, I nearly doubled all the spices and the final result was perfect for our tastes/preferences. We enjoy a variety of flavors and this was a nice change from some of our more mundane week-night options. Will look forward to making it again.

Comforting and delicious. I left out the fennel because I had none. Next time I will use lemon zest instead of strips of peel. The peel I think made it slightly biter. Otherwise, this was really good.

I can't say enough about how yummy this recipe is...just about to make it again for my husband's birthday dinner! I put extra lemon and toast coconut to put on top of it. The perfect blend of crunchy with perfectly cooked meat.

I made half the recipe for me and my husband, but used the full amount of spices. It would have been bland otherwise, I think. I also added a good shake of crushed red pepper. The sauce is very delicious, and plan to have a vegetable that you can mix in or serve right along side (we had okra which I sliced thin and quickly stir-fried). I agree that portion size is too small as given.

This was sooo good! The meat was so flavorful and tender. Instead of simmering on the stove for 2 hours, I just put it in the crock pot and walked away until I was ready to eat.