Quick and Easy Instant Pot Beef Curry

Mama was the best cook. And she loved to experiment with recipes, adapting them and making them her own. One very special dish was her Beef Curry. It was our family’s favorite, and  it became the go-to dish for birthdays. I’m pretty sure that every member of our clan had the privilege of celebrating their birthday at Mom and Dad’s house with a heaping plate of Beef Curry and Rice, followed by ‘the cake’, which was a simple chocolate sheet cake slathered with chocolate and pecan icing.

Mama would have turned 89 this October. Each October, I miss her more and more, and this year I decided that a good way to remember her was to make up a batch of her Beef Curry, adapting it (as she would have done) to my Instant Pot. I am thrilled to report that it was a success, and that our home was wrapped in the fragrant aroma of curry spices and love. I felt her in the kitchen with me as I prepared everything, dredging the meat in flour, sauteing the onion and garlic, chopping the onion, peanut and hard boiled egg for the traditional garnish. Here’s how I adapted her crock pot version to the Instant Pot. I’ll post the Crock Pot instructions as a note below, if that’s your preferred method of cooking. I love the ease of the Instant Pot. I especially appreciate that I can saute and finish the dish in one pot. Once the pot is sealed, it literally does all the work for you. I think one of the keys to success when cooking meat in the Instant Pot,  is using a natural pressure release. In other words, just let it switch to warm and hang out for a bit, may 10 or 15 minutes, while the pressure inside the pot dissipates and releases naturally. This produces a much more tender plate of meat. It’s so good!From start to finish, prep work included, this meal took a grand total of 2 hours, as opposed to 6 in the crock-pot version. And it was amazing! I didn’t have tomato juice on hand, so I used spicy V-8 juice. I think Mama would have approved. I’m so tickled that I have her recipe in her own handwriting saved. She always made funny notations in her recipes. I can hear her voice as I read her recipe…

While the curry is cooking, you’ll need to prepare a pot of sticky of rice, and chop your garnishes.

Wish you could smell this picture. Because it was mouth watering!

Doesn’t that look delicious? The garnishes add another layer of flavor to the dish. Daddy always added chutney to his plate.

Here’s the recipe:

(To prepare in the crock pot, you’ll have to saute the onion and garlic in a separate pan, then brown the meat. Deglaze with a bit of the beef broth. Then add all the ingredients to the crock pot and cook for at least 6 hours on low.)

Do you have an Instant Pot? What are some of your favorite dishes to prepare in the Instant Pot? I’d love to know! Also let me know if you try this recipe. I’m sure Mama would be delighted to know that your culinary adventures are being shared with the world. How fun is that??? Thanks for stopping by. I sure appreciate it!