Beef and Potatoes Sauce
Overview
This is beef and potatoes cooked down in a seasoned sauce thickened with cornstarch, and the source names no country. Several details place it in a West African kitchen: seasoning powder, scotch bonnet, curry powder and the term Irish potatoes, which is the Nigerian and Ghanaian way of distinguishing the ordinary white potato from sweet potato and yam. Coconut milk is offered as one of three options for the cooking liquid, alongside beef broth and plain water, and that choice changes the dish considerably. With coconut milk it reads closer to a Kenyan or Tanzanian coastal stew; with beef broth it is a straightforward brown stew. The source calls the result a curry sauce in one place, which reflects the curry powder rather than any Indian technique. Sauce here means what it means across West Africa: something spooned over a starch rather than eaten as a soup. It is served with steamed rice or naan, or eaten on its own. The one thing worth adjusting is the timing. Ten minutes of cooking will not tenderise beef cut into bite sized pieces, and a proper braise of forty-five minutes or more is what this needs.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Season the beef with the garlic powder, ginger powder, onion powder, thyme, curry powder, seasoning powder and salt.
- 2
Heat the vegetable oil in a large deep pan over medium heat and brown the beef on each side.
- 3
Add the potatoes and the water, broth or coconut milk, cover, and cook until the beef is tender and the potatoes are done.
- 4
Meanwhile, oil another pan and sauté the onion, then fry the peppers and carrots with the same seasonings used on the beef.
- 5
Add some blended scotch bonnet for heat if you want it.
- 6
Pour the fried vegetables into the pot of beef and potatoes and mix.
- 7
Add a cornstarch slurry to thicken.
- 8
Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt or seasoning cubes.
- 9
Once the beef and potatoes are cooked, take the pan off the heat.
- 10
Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot with steamed rice, naan, or on its own.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Sobecooks- Give the beef a proper braise. The source's ten minutes will not tenderise bite sized beef, and forty-five minutes or more is what it actually needs.
- Brown the beef properly before any liquid goes in. That colour is most of the flavour of the finished sauce.
- Add the potatoes with the liquid rather than at the start, or they disintegrate over a long braise. Waxy potatoes hold up better than floury ones.
- Cook the vegetables separately and fold them in at the end. It keeps them bright and slightly firm against the soft beef.
- Mix the cornstarch with cold water before it goes in. Added dry to hot liquid it lumps and will not disperse.
- Coconut milk, broth or water gives three quite different dishes. Coconut milk is the richest and reads coastal East African; broth gives a straightforward brown stew.
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