Beef and Grapefruit Curry with Rice Wari

This is a rendition of a northern Indian dish in which they use a fruit called the shatkora, which is a citrus fruit similar to grapefruit. As grapefruit are easier for most people to obtain and gives a pleasant result, I have recommended them in this recipe. When buying your stewing steak, look for meat that has a bit of fat on it as this gives a more sumptuous texture to the resultant dish. I like to serve this with wari, a type of dumpling, as a meal in one dish.

Ingredients:
For the Curry
500g chuck or stewing steak, cut into 1 inch cubes
50-60ml vegetable oil
5ml mustard seeds
4-5 cloves
3 pieces of cassia bark
4-5 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
2ml ground turmeric
5ml chilli powder or tandoori spice
7.5ml freshly ground cumin seeds
7.5ml freshly ground coriander seeds
10ml salt
15ml tomato paste
15ml brown sugar
30-50g ghee
200ml boiling water
1 pink grapefruit
2ml freshly ground black pepper
2ml garam masala

For the Wari
250ml cooked and cooled rice (left over rice is preferable)
10ml coriander leaves, finely chopped
15ml vegetable oil
2ml ground cumin
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
30ml melted ghee for braising

Method:
Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds, cloves, cassia and cardamom pods and allow them to sizzle for a few seconds. Add the onion and cook over low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring from time to time, until they are soft and lightly browned.

Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli powder, ground cumin, ground coriander and salt and fry for 1 minute. Add the beef and cook for 10 minutes, stirring now and then to turn the meat n the spices and onion. Add the tomato paste, sugar and ghee and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the boiling water, cover and simmer for an hour and a half or until the beef is almost tender.

Meanwhile, prepare the grapefruit. Cut it in half and squeeze out the juice. Cut one half into 2 quarters. Remove the residual membranes from one quarter, leaving the zest, which can be cut into thin strips.

To prepare the wari, mic the rice and other ingredients, except the ghee, and put the mixture through a mincer or blend them in a food processor. Form the dough into small balls about the size of a walnut. Melt the ghee in a frying pan and braise about 12 wari balls for 4-5 minutes, browning on all sides.

When the curry has had its hour and a half cooking time, add the prepared grapefruit zest and the squeezed juice, mixing into the curry. If the curry looks a bit dry at this point, add about half a cup of water and mix it in. Add the wari on the top and cook uncovered for a further 20-30 minutes or until the beef is tender, the gravy has reduced and thickened and the wari have cooked through. Add the black pepper, garam masala and salt if required. Serve piping hot with chutney and sliced banana.