Gordon Ramsay’s beef curry marinates braising steak in yoghurt and garam masala, then simmers it in a spiced tomato sauce until meltingly tender. The spice mix is toasted and ground fresh, and the green chillies go in whole. It takes about 4 hours.
It’s the spicy beef curry from his Healthy Appetite book, cooked on The F Word for a squad of Royal Marines. The tomato purée goes in “in place of any sort of cream or butter,” making it, in his words, “a really nice healthy way of eating a spicy curry.”
The step that separates it from jar-sauce curries takes five minutes. Coriander, cumin, fennel and fenugreek seeds get dry-toasted until fragrant, then ground with a pinch of salt. Whole seeds keep their oils locked in until heat cracks them, which is why fresh-ground smells louder than any jar.
Gordon Ramsay’s Spicy Beef Curry
Course: DinnersCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Medium5
servings30
minutes3
hours30
minutes475
kcal4 hr
The Healthy Appetite spicy beef curry he cooked for the Royal Marines on The F Word: yoghurt-marinated braising steak, a freshly ground spice mix, and whole green chillies doing the heat gently.
Ingredients
- For the marinated beef:
1kg (2.2 lb) good quality lean braising beef or chuck steak, cut into bite-size chunks
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
- For the spice mix:
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp fenugreek seeds (optional)
2 tsp mild curry powder
½ tsp ground turmeric
- For the curry:
2-3 tbsp light olive oil
2 large sweet onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2.5cm (1 in) knob of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 tsp tomato purée (US: tomato paste)
1 tbsp caster sugar, or to taste
1 x 400g (14 oz) tin chopped tomatoes
400ml (1¾ cups) beef stock
Small handful of coriander, leaves separated, stalks finely chopped
3-4 cardamom pods
8-10 curry leaves
3 long green chillies, left whole
Directions
- Marinate the beef: Put the beef chunks in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the garam masala, add the yoghurt and toss to coat. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
- Toast and grind the spices: Toast the coriander, cumin, fennel and fenugreek seeds in a dry pan, tossing over high heat for a few minutes until fragrant. Tip into a mortar, add a pinch of salt and grind to a fine powder, then stir in the curry powder and turmeric.
- Soften the base: Heat the olive oil in a large cast-iron casserole or heavy-based pan. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and a little salt and pepper, stir, then cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the onions are soft, lifting the lid to stir a few times.
- Caramelise: Tip in the ground spice mix and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the tomato purée and sugar and stir over medium-high heat for a few minutes until the onions are lightly caramelised.
- Build the sauce: Add the tomatoes, beef stock, coriander stalks, cardamom pods, curry leaves and whole green chillies.
- Simmer low and slow: Add the marinated beef and stir until well coated in the sauce, then partially cover the pan with a lid. Simmer very gently, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 hours depending on the cut, until the meat is meltingly tender.
- Serve: Ladle into warm bowls, scatter over the coriander leaves, and serve with steaming basmati rice or warmed Indian bread.
Notes
- His full book batch is double this and serves 8 to 10, built for freezing, so scale back up if your pot allows. The garam masala is my measure, the amount in my copy of the book is smudged.
FAQs
Why doesn’t Ramsay sear the beef first?
The book genuinely skips it, the marinated beef goes straight into the sauce, and there’s sound logic behind that. Yoghurt-coated meat spits and catches in a hot pan, so the marinade burns before the beef browns. The long simmer builds all the depth the dish needs anyway.
The twist is that on The F Word he DOES sear it, coloured hard and fast, “that’s the noise I want to hear.” Both versions are his, so take your pick. Sear for a darker edge if you don’t mind scraping the pan, or trust the book like I do.
What’s the best beef for curry?
His book calls for lean braising beef or chuck steak, cheap hard-working cuts whose connective tissue melts into the sauce, the same braising logic as his slow-braised goat curry. That’s why he gives a time range rather than a fixed number, the cut decides.
For the Marines he used rump steak instead, cut into large cubes, because TV doesn’t wait 4 hours. If you go the rump route, cut the simmer right down to 45 minutes to an hour. Any longer and a tender quick-cook cut turns tight and dry.
Why do the green chillies go in whole?
Because whole chillies season the pot instead of attacking it. Left uncut, they release a slow, rounded warmth through the sauce over the hours. Anyone who wants real fire can crush one against their bowl at the table.
Slice them and the seeds and membranes flood the sauce instead. The same three chillies jump from background warmth to sharp heat. Whole also means you can fish them out before serving if you’re feeding kids.
Is this beef curry actually healthy?
That cream-for-purée swap in the intro is half the answer, and the rest is in the details. The beef is deliberately lean, the marinade is yoghurt rather than oil, and he points out on the show that the fenugreek and fennel are “rich in dietary fibre and soothe the stomach.”
Compare it to the Hairy Bikers’ beef curry, which skips the marinade and simmers in coconut milk. Theirs lands richer at roughly a third more calories a bowl. If coconut beef is what you’re actually craving, his own beef massaman curry is the version built for it.
Who did Ramsay cook this curry for?
A squad of Royal Marines partway through their 32-week training, living on ration packs of sausage and beans. As he tells them, “you guys deserve better.” The lads admitted they carried Tabasco and spices into the field just to mask the taste of the rations.
He built this curry as their answer: high in protein, virtually no fat, and rice he describes as a “slow release energy source.” He also did their morning PT session first, and the whole segment is worth watching on YouTube, including his verdict that at least he “didn’t come last.”
Does beef curry keep and freeze well?
It’s built for it, which is why the book batch serves 8 to 10. The spices settle deeper into the meat overnight, so day two is genuinely better than day one, and it keeps 3 days in the fridge.
Frozen, it holds for 2 months, and with no coconut or cream in the sauce there’s nothing to split on thawing. Reheat it gently with a splash of water since the sauce thickens as it sits, and my roundup of his curry recipes tells you which one to cook next.
