Ria's Collection: KERALA STYLE BEEF FRY aka ERACHI ULARTHIYATHU

Monday, May 3, 2010

KERALA STYLE BEEF FRY aka ERACHI ULARTHIYATHU


This is one of the food that I regularly make these days, especially when I crave for that typical Kerala food that we had at home. And whenever I used to see Amma making this, I don't know why,but I always felt that it was kind of a very -precise-calculated recipe. She never went by tablespoon of teaspoon measurements, maybe because of that ;)

So before our wedding, I had asked Amma to write down some of her recipes for me in a separate book. And she did! I must admit I own quite a lot of cookbooks from various authors, but I carried only 3 books with me to US. Those are Amma's handwritten recipes, her favourite Chinese cookbook and my recipe 'collection'. Afterall, that's all that you would really want for your daily cooking! :)

But when I had to make this, I couldn't find Amma's handwritten recipe book was nor did I have the time to hunt for it then. So I went ahead with the proportions I thought would be perfect...sometimes I even go by the smell of the food ;)
The knife that you see above was Jobin's surprise gift for me as soon as we moved into our apartment. It is one of the best gifts he has ever given me...a Wusthof 8" Chef 's Knife. And that's the first knife to enter our kitchen. It is marvelous! I don't think I need to talk about a Wusthof so I quote Jobin's bro here, 'It's the best knife money can buy ! ' It sure is!

So let's move on to the recipe. Finla, this is for you :) I am sorry to have kept you waiting for so long!



KERALA STYLE BEEF FRY/ERACHI ULARTHIYATHU
My own recipe

Ingredients:
Beef - 2 lb ,cut into 1" squares
Onions- 3, medium sliced fine
Tomatoes- 2, medium chopped
Coconut slivers/Thenga kothu- 1/2 cup ( I did not have any, so I skipped them)
Red Chili powder- 1 heaped tbsp (I used the spicy type, so 1 heaped tbsp was enough. Go as per your taste)
Coriander powder- 1 1/2 heaped tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger -garlic paste- 2 tbsp
Salt-to taste
Water- 1/4 cup ( You need not add this at all if you are not draining/ drying the meat after washing it)
Vinegar- 1 tbsp ,optional ( You need to add this only if you feel your curry is lacking it. For me, tomatoes did the work)

For frying/tempering:
Onion- 1, medium sliced fine
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Oil-6-7 tbsp

Method:
  • Put all the ingredients into a cooker , mix well and pressure cook it for 2 whistles. (The beef I use needs only 2 whistles, but if you feel your's is still uncooked, give it one more whistle and check.) Do not over cook the beef here, because it might break/crumble while we fry/temper it.
  • Once the beef is cooked and if you have water left in the cooker, cook till the water is evaporated almost completely. At this stage you can freeze the beef and thaw and use it later as follows.
  • In another pan, heat oil, crackle the mustard seeds and saute the onions in it till soft.
  • Add the cooked beef into it and fry it till you get a nice dark brown colour for the meat.
  • Serve hot with rice, chapathi , appam or bread!
Verdict: It was fingerlicking, lipsmacking-ly good! Jobin adores it! And I love cooking it! :) Your house would be wrapped in the aroma of it...whether you like it or not! ;)

14 Comments:

Prerna said...

I envy u for having that knife :-(

Swapna said...

We too love Ulathirachi and I also make it regularly:)....I add tomatoes at the frying stage only...

Finla said...

Thankyou so much for poasting them, you are a real sweet heart :-)
I have not had these for so so long, i am the only one who likes them here. For the moment i have to drool, a must make dish for me.
DROOL :-)
I don'thave any recipe of my mom, if i ask her she will tell me hald hand than quater hand that etc.... and i will b elike how much is that she will tell that i don't know, she just goes with the feel too.
But have to admit i can only cook if i have a recipe.

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Beautiful dish.. wonderful clicks ria..

Divya Kudua said...

Beef Ularthiyathe is Ajay's standard order when we go to Kerala restaurants.He flips over it!!.Love your knife..looks good too!!

Bombay-Bruxelles said...

Ria,

Now that Finla has the recipe, she should make it and since I'm the one living closest to her, and if she invites me (if not, I'll party-crash!) I'll tell you if it's good or not :-D

monk15ad said...

Need to make a trip up north now.

Unknown said...

This is one thing I find really hard to resist! It looks so tempting :) I also make it the same way except for tomatoes and mustard seeds...

Twinsy Rachel said...

Awesome!!! my fav dish.. Wat a knife Ria!!!

Suhaina said...

Looks too good. I am drooling here. Nice clicks dear.

Miriam Korula said...

hi ria....i'm always on the look out for a good beef recipe...n' i just have to try this...i used to see this as ur blog image n' always think i have to try ur recipe out...didn't realise u didn't already post it...i'm definitely gonna give this a try....

Unknown said...

Hi Ria,
Just happened to see your wonderful recipe of beef fry..something which I can never resist.It looks really yummy.Will try and let you know.
I'm a newcomer to your blog and you are indeed doing a great job.Regards..

Unknown said...

Hi Ria,
I tried this recipe and it was delicious!! I used too much water though in the pressure cooker and had to let it cook for a while before the water disappeared...note to self..next time follow recipe fully :-)

Jina said...

Thanks.Just tried it and loved it.
Btw, I had been reading your blog for past some months and found we have some things in common
I too went to Mounts, came to US after marriage and loves to cook (though not on ur scale and level)
Will try out the cake recipes as I have not yet ventured into that...Coz Im scared that u need to have exact measurements for baking and Im the handful no measures gurl

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