Pressure Cooker Roast Beef for Christmas
Marella Gilbert shares her grandmother’s delicious legacy of roast beef, a Goan-Anglo Indian Christmas eve special, that is made in the pressure cooker.
Christmas is about the roast. A big chunk of tender beef is trimmed, washed and poked until it is ready to go into the pot. Watching my grandmother heave over it, grinning at the large chunks of meat in her hand, was a big part of Christmas in our home. And it definitely isn’t Christmas Eve until the rich aroma of spices and broth come steaming through the whistles of the cooker.
This is a fabulous, yet unbelievably simple, Goan-Anglo Indian recipe recipe for roast beef made in a pressure cooker!
I miss her terribly as I write this. My love for food, music, books, and all that is rich and well-thumbed through, come from my grandmother. Whenever I yearn for the glory days, I make roast beef and grin as I watch my kids dig in.
RECIPE FOR PRESSURE COOKER ROAST BEEF
Ingredients
1-1.5 kilo chunk of beef round, with a little fat, trimmed well
8 dried red chillies
6 cloves
15-20 pepper corns
2-inch piece of cinnamon
6 pods of cardamom
2-inch piece of ginger sliced thin
6 large garlic cloves sliced thin
1 tbsp rock salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper powder
1 star anise
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
2-3 tbsp oil
Method
Wash the meat well and place in a pressure cooker.
Add in the spices, along with the oil, salt, pepper, vinegar and soy sauce. Toss to coat well. Poke each chunk with a fork or knife to ensure the flavours seep through.
Add in one cup of water, close the cooker and cook on medium for about 3-4 whistles.
Turn off the cooker, open and stir well. Baste the meat and close to cook for another 3 whistles, or until tender.
Open the cooker, remove the meat, slice and set aside.
Remove the whole spices with a ladle.
Reduce the remaining broth until thick. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Add the slices of meat back in, stir and coat well with the sauce.
Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Serve with sliced and fried potatoes.
This makes enough to serve 6 people. Leftovers make for a great sandwich.
Marella Gilbert is a full-time mom, and compulsive cook, frequently found smiling to herself in the kitchen.
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