Love beef? Love korma? Love easy recipes? Then you’ll LOVE this Easy Beef Korma recipe! It takes just 10 minutes prep time, then you let the oven do all the hard work. Perfect for busy days when you still want to eat well!
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Sit back and let the oven do all the work!
If you love beef korma and you love easy recipes then you will LOVE this Easy Beef Korma recipe.
You just need to fry up a few simple ingredients, then put the whole thing into the oven and forget about it for 2 hours!
2 hours later you’ll be greeted with a delicious korma that looks and tastes like you had to work a lot harder that you actually did. (Promise I won’t tell!)
Better still, if you use a hobproof, oven proof dish – either a cast iron pot or a cast aluminium pot would be perfect here – the whole thing can be done in one pot!
How to make Homemade Beef Korma
Homemade Beef Korma is so easy to make!
All you need to do is fry onions, garlic and chilli and a few easy spices. Then add diced beef, coconut milk, water and ground almonds, plus some salt and pepper.
Put the lid on and place the curry your preheated oven for 2 hours. Then, after the 2 hours are up, remove from the oven and stir through the chopped coriander. Easy Peasy!
(Full recipe given in the recipe card below.)
What to serve with Beef Korma
If you want to keep things quick and simple, you can serve this Easy Beef Korma with plain basmati rice, ordinary long grain rice and/or shop-bought naan bread, plus your favourite pickles and chutneys. (I serve mine with mango chutney and lime pickle.)
If you have a bit more time, you could make your own Homemade Plan Naans or Peshwari Naans and one of these pilau rice variations:
- Easy Peasy Pilau Rice
- Multicoloured Pilau Rice
- Fruity Pilau Rice
- Easy Mushroom Pilau Rice
- Pilau Cauliflower Rice
You could also serve it with an Indian-style Kachumber Salad.
Multicoloured Pilau Rice
What to drink with Beef Korma
It’s really tricky to choose a wine to go with Beef Korma!
Creamy, coconut milk-based curries are typically best paired with aromatic whites like Riesling, Pinot Gris, Viognier or Gewurztraminer. However, beef pairs best with red wine!
So what is the solution?
I think you can go two ways here…
Either go for a robust white wine with enough ‘oomph’ to stand up to the strong flavour of the beef. For me Riesling works the best here, especially if it’s a slightly off-dry one.
Or go for fruity, medium-bodied red with low to medium tannins, like a Grenache/Garnacha, Merlot or Zinfandel. This will go very well with the beef and be the best complement to the coconut milk and Indian flavours of the dish.
Personally, I think the Riesling option works the best, if you are willing to break the beef with red wine ‘rule’. Try it – I think you’ll be surprised how well it works!
Make it your own…
You can absolutely adapt this recipe to suit your own personal preferences and/or what you have in your fridge. Here are some ideas…
- Use diced chicken thigh, pork or lamb instead of diced beef.
- Add diced (bell) peppers in at the same time as the beef.
- Fry up some diced aubergine and add it in at the same time as the beef.
- Add in some cauliflower florets and/or chunks of carrot for the last 1h of cooking.
- Add in some tinned lentils or tinned chickpeas for the last 15 minutes of cooking.
- Add in some fresh chillies – either in at the beginning or as a garnish at the end.
I’d love to hear how you’ve adapted my recipe! Let me know in the comments section 😀
PRO TIP: As beef can be expensive, bulking this curry up with pulses and/or veggies can make a little beef go a long way! (My favourite is to add in 2-3 bell peppers and a tin of chickpeas.)
What should you cook Beef Korma in?
I recommend you use a cast iron ‘dutch oven’ pot or cast aluminium pot that can go on the hob and in the oven. That way it’s quicker and you keep the washing up to a minimum! However, if you don’t have one, simply use a regular saucepan for the first part, then transfer the korma to a lidded ovenproof dish before you put it in the oven.
Can you reheat Beef Korma?
Absolutely! And, in fact, it’s one of those dishes that’s even better the next day, making it a great ‘make ahead’ option.
Place any leftover (or made ahead) Beef Korma in an airtight container and pop it into the fridge, where it will keep for up to 3 days.
To reheat, simply tip the curry into a saucepan and heat until piping hot all the way through, adding a splash of water if it gets too dry.
Alternatively, you can reheat this curry in the microwave – again do make sure it is piping hot all the way through before serving.
Can you freeze Beef Korma?
This Beef Korma freezes beautifully. Simply cool the curry to room temperature and place it in a freezer-safe container. Pop the curry into the freezer, where it will keep for up to 1 month.
Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat as above.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Easy Beef Korma
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion sliced finely
- 4 garlic cloves grated or crushed
- 1 cm piece of ginger grated
- 2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 5 teaspoons garam masala (see Note 1)
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes (or to taste – see Note 2)
- 900 g diced beef (see Note 3)
- 400 ml tin coconut milk
- 200 ml water
- 3 tablespoons ground almonds
- Salt and pepper to taste (see Note 4)
- 2 tablespoon fresh coriander finely chopped (plus extra for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F.
- Put the oil in a hobproof and ovenproof pan (see Note 5) and add the sliced onions. Fry over a low heat, covered with a lid, for 3 minutes until the onions are soft, but not brown. Stir occasionally.
- Take the lid off and add the garlic and ginger together with the turmeric, garam masala, cumin and chilli. Cook for 2 minutes over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Add a splash of water if it gets too dry.
- Add the beef and stir to coat the beef with the spices, then add the coconut milk, 200ml water and the ground almonds, plus some salt and pepper. Turn the heat up and bring to the boil.
- Put the lid on and place in your preheated oven for 2 hours. Check at the 1 hour mark and add extra water if necessary.
- After the 2 hours are up, remove from the oven and stir through the chopped coriander.
- Serve with rice and/or naans and garnish with a little more chopped coriander.
Notes
- This may seem a lot of garam masala, but it is necessary to give this dish enough spice to stand up to the robust flavour of the beef. You can, of course, use less if you prefer.
- Typically korma is a very mild curry, with no chilli heat at all, so leave this out if you prefer. However I find a little touch of chilli enhances the flavour and makes this beef korma even better. Use ¼ teaspoon for mild, ½ teaspoon for medium and 1 teaspoon for hot.
- I recommend you buy beef designed to be slow cooked. This is sometimes called ‘stewing beef’ or ‘slow cook beef’ or sometimes simply ‘diced beef’ in the supermarkets.
- I strongly recommend you use a good ½ teaspoon of salt here. It really brings out the other flavours.
- I recommend you use a cast iron or cast aluminium pan that can go on the hob and in the oven. That way it’s quicker and you keep the washing up to a minimum! However, if you don’t have one, simply use a regular saucepan for the first part, then transfer the korma to an ovenproof dish before you put it in the oven.
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
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