Beef jalfrezi. With pops of sweetness from bell peppers (capsicums) and vibrant tang from tomatoes, this dish pairs beautifully with rice and naan. The veggies stay crisp giving the signature crunch, and the vibrant, tangy sauce coats the meat and veg the most delicious way. The high heat frying technique used in the recipe gives it the slightly charred, smoky flavor without being extra bold and heavy. Turn your dinnertime into a flavorful adventure!
What Makes This Dish A Weeknight Favorite
What’s the secret recipe for the perfect jalfrezi? Well, there are a lot of factors that go into the making of a great curry starting from finding the right cut of meat to using quality spices. Also, figuring out the cooking time for ideal tenderness and the type of cooking process, stove top, instant top, or slow cooker, affects the taste of the final dish. But, if you have cooked a curry once or twice, you will definitely have your favorite tricks to whip up your favorite dish.
So, if you are wondering how pro cooks make the best jalfrezi, here’s the recipe for you. To be exact, the restaurant version of jalfrezi. While the traditional dish is just a simple stir fry of meat and vegetables with spices, this recipe brings in a bold curry sauce without being heavy. Saute the vegetables separately to maintain the crispness and make restaurant style curry base to make it rich and flavorful.
Key Ingredients In Beef Jalfrezi
- Beef - Sub with lamb if you like.
- Tomatoes - Canned tomatoes are convenient.
- Vegetables - Onions, bell peppers (capsicum) and tomatoes.
- Spices - Cumin, coriander, red chili powder, garam masala.
How To make Beef Jalfrezi
Cook meat and veggies - Start the recipe with cooking beef with spices like turmeric and red chili powder alongside ginger and garlic. You can also add a little water. Again, you can cook the meat either over stovetop or instant pot. Cook the veggies separately by sautéing them in a little oil. Make sure the veggies are crisp, not overcooked or mushy.
Curry base - In this recipe, we will make a curry base to make the restaurant version of the dish. All you need to do cook onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and spices in a little oil, and then grind to a smooth paste.
Cook jalfrezi - Stir fry the cooked beef to get a light brown color, and sauce it with garlic, ginger and green chilies. The spices go in next and get a simple stir fry with tomatoes. Next, you can simmer the curry base and the liquid stock from cooking the beef. Simmer this again for another 4-5 minutes before adding in the veggies. Spice up the dish with a little garam masala.
Ingredients
Cook beef:
- ▢ 1 kg beef, gravy or chuck steak, or braising beef, cut into 2.5 cm cubes
- ▢ 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- ▢ 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- ▢ ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ▢ ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ▢ Juice from half a lemon
- ▢ Water
- ▢ Salt to taste
Saute vegetables:
- ▢ 1 tablespoon oil
- ▢ 1 cup diced onions
- ▢ 1 cup diced green bell peppers or capsicum
- ▢ 2 tomatoes, quartered
- ▢ Salt to taste
Curry base:
- ▢ 1 tablespoon oil
- ▢ 1 cup chopped onions
- ▢ 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- ▢ 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ▢ ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ▢ ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ▢ ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ▢ ½ cup canned diced tomatoes or 1 large tomato chopped
- ▢ Salt to taste
Jalfrezi curry:
- ▢ 1 tablespoon oil
- ▢ 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ▢ 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- ▢ 1 green chili sliced in half
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ▢ ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ▢ ½ cup canned diced tomatoes
- ▢ 2 cups curry base
- ▢ 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ▢ Salt to taste
- ▢ Coriander leaves (cilantro) to garnish
- ▢ Sliced green chilies to garnish
- ▢ Rice or naan to serve
Instructions
Cook beef:
- Place beef, garlic, ginger, ground turmeric, red chili powder and lemon juice in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cover with water.
- Cook, covered, for 35-40 minutes or until beef is tender. Add more water if needed.
- Separate beef and cooked liquid.
- Alternatively, to speed up the process, you can cook beef in the instant pot.
Saute vegetables:
- Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add onions and bell peppers (capsicums). Saute for 1-2 minutes or until crisp yet tender.
- Add tomatoes. Season with salt.
- Saute for 1 minute. Remove from pan.
Make curry base:
- Heat oil in the same frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add onions, ginger and garlic. Saute, stirring, for 2 minutes or until onions are soft.
- Add spices and tomatoes. Season with salt.
- Saute for about 3 minutes.
- Cool and process to a smooth paste, adding a little water if needed.
Make jalfrezi:
- Heat oil in the same frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add cooked beef. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes or until the beef is browned.
- Add garlic, ginger and green chilies. Saute, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Add ground cumin, ground coriander and red chili powder. Saute, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
- Add curry base and reserved cooked beef water. Stir to combine. Season with salt.
- Bring to a boil. Simmer for about 4-5 minutes.
- Add vegetables and garam masala. Stir to combine. Heat through.
- Garnish with coriander (cilantro) leaves and green chilies (if using).
- Serve with rice or naan.
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Nutrition
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More jalfrezi recipes:
- Chicken Jalfrezi
Ingredients
Cook beef:
- ▢ 1 kg beef, gravy or chuck steak, or braising beef, cut into 2.5 cm cubes
- ▢ 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- ▢ 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- ▢ ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ▢ ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ▢ Juice from half a lemon
- ▢ Water
- ▢ Salt to taste
Saute vegetables:
- ▢ 1 tablespoon oil
- ▢ 1 cup diced onions
- ▢ 1 cup diced green bell peppers or capsicum
- ▢ 2 tomatoes, quartered
- ▢ Salt to taste
Curry base:
- ▢ 1 tablespoon oil
- ▢ 1 cup chopped onions
- ▢ 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- ▢ 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ▢ ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ▢ ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ▢ ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ▢ ½ cup canned diced tomatoes or 1 large tomato chopped
- ▢ Salt to taste
Jalfrezi curry:
- ▢ 1 tablespoon oil
- ▢ 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ▢ 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- ▢ 1 green chili sliced in half
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ▢ ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ▢ ½ cup canned diced tomatoes
- ▢ 2 cups curry base
- ▢ 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ▢ Salt to taste
- ▢ Coriander leaves (cilantro) to garnish
- ▢ Sliced green chilies to garnish
- ▢ Rice or naan to serve
Instructions
Cook beef:
- Place beef, garlic, ginger, ground turmeric, red chili powder and lemon juice in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cover with water.
- Cook, covered, for 35-40 minutes or until beef is tender. Add more water if needed.
- Separate beef and cooked liquid.
- Alternatively, to speed up the process, you can cook beef in the instant pot.
Saute vegetables:
- Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add onions and bell peppers (capsicums). Saute for 1-2 minutes or until crisp yet tender.
- Add tomatoes. Season with salt.
- Saute for 1 minute. Remove from pan.
Make curry base:
- Heat oil in the same frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add onions, ginger and garlic. Saute, stirring, for 2 minutes or until onions are soft.
- Add spices and tomatoes. Season with salt.
- Saute for about 3 minutes.
- Cool and process to a smooth paste, adding a little water if needed.
Make jalfrezi:
- Heat oil in the same frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Add cooked beef. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes or until the beef is browned.
- Add garlic, ginger and green chilies. Saute, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Add ground cumin, ground coriander and red chili powder. Saute, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
- Add curry base and reserved cooked beef water. Stir to combine. Season with salt.
- Bring to a boil. Simmer for about 4-5 minutes.
- Add vegetables and garam masala. Stir to combine. Heat through.
- Garnish with coriander (cilantro) leaves and green chilies (if using).
- Serve with rice or naan.
