Asma's First Class Railway Curry

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Recipes extracted from Monsoon by Asma Khan (DK RED) Photography by Patricia Niven

The origin of this mild beef curry with coconut milk, as its name implies, was the Indian railways dining car. During colonial times, this dish was created for the English passengers traveling in first class as a change from the standard English meal of meat (usually mutton chops) and two veg, which was prepared specially for them. The popular story is that an English passenger was tempted to try the standard mutton curry the staff were eating and enjoyed the flavors but not the chilies. The cooks added coconut milk to the gravy to temper it down. The addition of vinegar to this dish was possibly to preserve the meat for longer. The potatoes are meant to be cut in large chunks, which is popular in Bengal. You can use stewing beef, mutton leg pieces, or lamb shanks to make this dish.

Ingredients

4 tbsp vegetable oil
4cm (1 ½ inch) Wild Cinnamon Quill
3 Kandyan Cloves
3 Baraka Cardamom pods
1 Indian bay leaf
1 dried red chilli
1kg (2lb 4oz) stewing beef/ mutton/ lamb shanks
2 small onions, finely chopped, then crushed to a paste
4 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste
1 tbsp fresh ginger paste
½ tsp Pragati Turmeric
1 ½ tsp ground Nandini Coriander
1 ½ tsp ground Jodhana Cumin
1 tomato, diced
2 tsp Surya Salt
4 tbsp malt vinegar, or more to taste
700ml (scant 1 ¼ pints/ 2 ¾ cups) water
2 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
400ml (14fl oz) canned thick coconut milk
1 whole green chilli optional, to garnish

Methods

In a heavy-based pan that has a lid, heat the oil over a medium to high heat. Add the cassia bark, cloves, cardamom pods, bay leaf, and dried red chilli. Stir until the spices and the chilli have darkened in color, then use a slotted spoon to remove the spices to a plate and set aside.
In the same chilli-infused oil, fry the meat pieces until brown on all sides. Do not allow the meat to cook through; the aim is just to seal the meat. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside, leaving as much of the oil in the pan as possible.
Add the onions, garlic and ginger pastes to the pan. Take care as the pastes will splutter in the hot oil. Next, add the ground spices followed by the diced tomato and cook for 2 minutes before returning the whole fried spices and sealed meat to the pan.
Add the salt, vinegar, and measured water, and bring to a boil. After 1 minute, cover the pan with the lid and reduce to a simmer. After about 1 hour, when the meat is three-quarters cooked (it should be soft, but not falling apart, and the edges should be curled), add the potatoes and stir to coat with the gravy.
Stir at regular intervals to ensure the potatoes are cooking evenly – do not shake them too much as they may break. Once the meat and potatoes are cooked, remove the lid and reduce any remaining liquid until the oil seeps to the edges of the pan. Usually, I add some vinegar at this stage too – it depends on whether the vinegar aroma was lost in the cooking process.
Add the coconut milk and taste for seasoning before serving.