Funny thing about this Beef Fry recipe is that my favorite part is not even the spicy, roasted pieces of beef! It’s the thing my mom would make at the end. Once the beef was roasted, you’d see the most glorious bits of spices and beef left in some coconut oil at the bottom of the pan. It was TOO good not to use, so my parents would throw in a cup or so of matta rice and make a simple little fried rice out of it. Eventually, it was what I came to expect anytime mom was whipping up some Beef Fry for us.
A few notes about making this Beef Fry recipe:
- The cut of beef I like using is chuck roast; you want a cut that is a little dense with some fat on it for flavor
- Cut your piece into bite-size pieces
- The meat masala measurements might leave you with some leftover; you can store it in a jar and it’s good for months!
- Garam masala is ok to use in place of meat masala, but it’s not a perfect substitute
- Meat Masala has a sweeter balance of spices as compared to garam masala; it’s worth trying, at least once, to make the meat masala fresh and taste the difference 🙂
- Don’t throw out the liquids left when you pressure cook the beef – that’s all the flavor!
- Keep sauteeing the beef until all of those liquids reduce – that’s what will form that wonderful spicy/gravy coating over the beef
If you have any more questions when making this Beef Fry recipe, definitely reach out to me @thefamiliarkitchen on instagram. Be sure to leave a rating below and tag me when you make it 
P.S. If you’re looking for awesome spices like the ones I used to make this recipe, check out Burlap & Barrel!Â
If you like this Beef Fry recipe, you might also like my:
Beans Mezhukkupuratti (Stir Fry)
What the full recipe video here:
Kerala Beef Ularthiyathu (Beef Fry)
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- Beef (chuck roast), 2lb, 3/4" cubed
- Coconut Oil, 3 tbsp it ain't called beef "fry" for nothing 🙂
- Shallots (6) or Red Onion (2), thinly sliced
- Garlic Cloves, 3, minced
- Curry Leaves, 1 sprig
Marinade
- Red Onion, 1, diced
- Green Chili, 2, diced
- Ginger, 2", minced
- Garlic Cloves, 8, minced
- Coconut Slices, 1/2 cup, (fresh or frozen)
- Curry Leaves, 1 sprig
- Salt, 1-2 tbsp
- Meat Masala*, 1 tbsp
- Coriander Powder, 2 tbsp
- Red Chili Powder, 1 tbsp
- Turmeric Powder, 1 tsp
How to Make Meat Masala
- Green Cardamom, 1/4 cup
- Fennel Seeds, 1/3 cup
- Cloves, 1 tbsp
- Cumin Seeds, 1 tbsp
- Cinnamon Stick, 2
- Dry Red Chilis, 8
Instructions
Make the meat masala.
Marinate the beef.
- In a large bowl or in the pot of your pressure cooker, add all of the ingredients under the marinade section, then mix together. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
Cook the beef.
- After the beef is marinated, pressure cook the beef on high for 10 minutes (about 4 whistles). You do not need to add water to this. Moisture will naturally extract from the beef as you pressure cook it. Do not discard the moisture from the pressure cooked beef.
Fry the beef.
- In a wide/deep pan (or uruli) on medium high heat, add the coconut oil. Once the oil is hot, add in the shallots, garlic, and curry leaves. Saute until lightly golden then add in the cooked beef along with its juices. Continue to stir the beef around in your pan so that it evenly fries and encourages the moisture to reduce. This usually takes 15-20 minutes. About halfway through, sprinkle in about 1-2 tsp of meat masala over the beef and then continue frying. The beef is done frying when all the moisture is gone and a gravy/spice coating has formed on the beef. That's it!
Hi Anne! Had a quick question for you. Are there any alternative methods that can be used if you don’t have a pressure cooker? I may be the last Indian on earth without one.
Thanks for the great recipes and the help!
Dimple
Hi there! I usually use my electric pressure cooker, which is the same thing as an Instant Pot if you have one of those. Otherwise, I would recommend adding the marinated beef to a heavy bottom pot (like a dutch oven) and covering it on medium low heat for about 15 minutes to cook. This should extract a lot of moisture from the beef which is what we are looking for when we transfer the cooked beef to a shallow frying pan. That moisture that extracts is all the good flavor that we want to reduce and coat the beef 🙂 Hope this helps!
Thank you so much!
Hi Anne,
Thanks a ton for sharing this recipe!
This is by far the best Beef Ularthiyathu that my husband and I have had.
It turned out so yummy and juicy, and it was even more delicious on the second day!
This recipe is a keeper and is gonna be my go to Beef dish!!
Thanks again Anne,
Stay safe and Take care..
Hi Anne – The step on “cooking the beef”, after pressure cooking on high for 10 minutes, do you allow for natural release or manual release if using the Instant Pot. Also, can we sub the meat masala w/ garam masala instead ?