“This beef curry pie is comfort food personified,” says our Food Director Fran Abdallaoui. “It’s full of flavour with meltingly tender beef that has been simmered for hours in a medium-spiced aromatic curry sauce. The twist is that we’ve topped the curry pie with a golden flaky buttery crust and decorated the top with pastry scraps which gives it a very impressive flourish without much effort.”
Ingredients
Method
Toss beef in flour; shake away excess. Heat oil in large saucepan; cook beef, in batches, until well browned. Remove from pan.
Add onion to same pan; cook, stirring, until softened. Add curry paste to the pan; cook, stirring, until fragrant. Return beef to pan with undrained tomatoes and stock; bring to the boil.
Reduce heat then simmer, covered, 1½ hours. Simmer, uncovered for a further 30 minutes or until beef is very tender. Season to taste then cool the mixture to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced).
Spoon beef mixture into 24cm pie dish (1.5-litre/6-cup). If your pie dish has a rim, cut a 1cm strip of pastry (from the edges of the pastry) and place it on the rim. Roll the pastry to fit the top of the dish and drape over the filling; trim edge. Decorate top of the curry pie with pastry scraps.
Brush pastry with combined egg yolk and milk. Place beef curry pie on oven tray; bake, uncovered, about 40 minutes or until pastry is well-browned.
CORIANDER CHUTNEY Blend cumin seeds, lemon juice, sugar, cumin, chilli, coriander, mint and yoghurt until smooth. Season to taste.
Serve beef curry pie with Coriander Chutney.
Can this beef curry pie be made ahead?
The beef curry pie can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for 3 months.
If you have time, make the beef mixture the day before to avoid needing to cool the filling quickly before topping with pastry.
Fran’s tips for the perfect pie
If you add the pastry top when the beef curry pie filling is too hot, the butter in the pastry will start to melt and will inhibit the rise and the number of flaky layers in the final baked pastry result. The fastest way to cool the beef mixture is to place the saucepan (without the lid) into the sink then carefully add iced water (don’t get any inside the saucepan) to come halfway up the side of the saucepan.
Key ingredients in this beef curry pie
Chuck steak: This inexpensive cut from the neck and shoulder area is ideal for slowly braising to tender, fall-apart perfection.
Rogan josh curry paste: The aromatic heart of this curry pie, delivering warm spices like cardamom, cinnamon and chilli.
Ghee: Adds an authentic Indian touch with its nutty, caramelised butter flavour that enhances the curry spices.
Beef stock: Use a good-quality beef stock to provide the liquid base that helps tenderise the chuck steak while concentrating into a rich, savoury gravy.
Diced tomatoes: Bring natural sweetness and acidity to the beef curry pie.
All-butter puff pastry: Puff pastry is sold in sheets and available from the freezer section of supermarkets.
