Kottayam Beef Ularthiyathu

Kottayam….my ancestral hometown….the city I am most familiar with in Kerala next to Trivandrum…the beautiful scenic backwaters make this city a famous tourist spot with lots of pleasant memories in this city as most of our vacations in school used to be to visit our grandparents residing in Kottayam…it is well known for many classic dishesand there is no Christian festival which is not complete without a beef fry.

This popular dish derives it’s name from the fact that it is a common accompaniment along with drinks for ‘Achayans’ ( dudes from Kottayam are called so) from Kottayam, a city in Central Travancore. It is served in toddy shops in Kerala along with toddy, a form of sweet liquor tapped from coconut trees. Also nothing can replace this special dish for Christian weddings in Kerala on the wedding eve as a starter or on the day of the wedding when this is served as a main dish along with rice as part of a proper full course lunch.

I am not a huge fan of red meat as such but this recipe when made (with buffalo meat especially) is something I look forward to eating when i go home for holidays. I sometimes wonder what makes this dish so tasty that you can’t resist not having it as soon as it’s made with some rice and Moru curry. But as days pass by it gets more tastier and tastier. Usha chechi who helps at our home makes this dish so tasty and we can’t help not having it as soon as it’s made and served hot.

I always used to think it is a very difficult dish to prepare but actually the fact is it is just time consuming if we have to get it in this dark brown colour and dry consistency. I decided to try out this recipe which fairly easy to me considering most of the ingredients are mixed in the pressure cooker except for the last sautéing bit which helps in getting the meat dark in colour and softer.

RECIPE

Beef – 1/2 kg (cut into cubes)

To mix in pressure cooker

Onion – 1 medium thinly sliced

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Chilly powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 2 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice – 1/2 lemon

Curry leaves – 8 to 10

Salt – to taste

For sautéing

Shallots – 10 small

Coconut chunk pieces thinly sliced – 1/4 cup

Garam masala/ meat masala – 2 tbsp

Onion – 1 medium

Curry leaves – 8 to 10

Salt – to taste

Coconut oil – 2 to 3 tbsp

Steps

1. Take a pressure cooker and put the beef and all the ingredients listed to be mixed in the cooker.

2. Mix well and add 1/4 cup water and cook for 3 whistles or 15-20 minutes (varies for different types of meat)

3. Now take a wide bottomed pan and heat the coconut oil and add shallots and sauté them. Then add the thin sliced coconut pieces and sauté again till light brown in colour.

4. Now add the contents from the pressure cooker along with the water left into this pan.

5. Add garam masala and keep sautéing for 5 minutes.

6. Add the thinly sliced onion and keep on low flame for 30 minutes at least till it darkens in colour and becomes soft.

7. Finally garnish with curry leaves

8. Serve hot with rice or Kerala Parotta/ chapatti.