Nariyal Palak Gosht (Coconut-Spinach Beef)

After making the beef rendang and the "stick" curry, I still had about a pound of beef left, so I decided to give this beef-spinach curry a go. It's one of the few beef curries in the book that we haven't made before. It's not a hugely rich or saucy curry, but I really do enjoy the coconut in it. And it is incredibly easy. It takes a while to make, but most of that time is just waiting around with little to no interaction needed. You mix up a simple marinade. You marinate your meat. You cook it slowly. And then you add the spinach, coconut, and tamarind. That's it! There's nothing else to it. Very simple to put together. And I like that you get your protein and veg all in one easy dish. Just serve it with some rice and/or flatbread to round out the meal. (We actually ended up serving it with a quick patra curry as well, but you don't necessarily need a second curry to complete it.)

Because this isn't really a saucy curry, I think it goes nicely with a chutney or some pickles. I had it with some homemade tomato-date chutney, but I think store-bought sonth (tamarind-date chutney) or spicy pickled garlic would also work extremely well.

Nariyal palak gosht (middle), pictured with patra curry (left), zarda chaawal (right), and garlic naan (bottom).

Nariyal Palak Gosht

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. plain yogurt
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. ground cayenne
• 450g stewing beef
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 3 c. water, divided
• 400g spinach¹
• 1 c. shredded fresh coconut or 1/2 c. shredded dried coconut, reconstituted²
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate

Directions

1. Combine yogurt, ginger paste, garlic paste, sea salt, turmeric, and cayenne and mix well.
2. Add beef, tossing to coat.
3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and as long as overnight.
4. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add beef along with its marinade and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally for ~10 minutes.
6. Add 1 c. water and deglaze the pan.
7. Continue to cook, uncovered, for another 10 minutes.
8. Add remaining 2 c. water and bring to a boil.
9. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beef is very tender (30-40 minutes).
10. Add spinach (a handful at a time if using fresh) and cook until wilted and heated through (~5 minutes).
11. Stir in coconut and tamarind and simmer, uncovered, for another 5 minutes.
12. Serve with chutney, pickles, and/or flatbreads of choice.

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¹ I ended up using a mix of spinach and kale for my greens. I guess this would technically make my version nariyal saag gosht rather than nariyal palak gosht. Same idea though! ^Back
2 To reconstitute dried coconut simple pour an equal volume of boiling water over it and allow it to sit/steep for at least 15 minutes. Iyer says to strain/drain it after rehydrating, but I usually just add it liquid and all. (There isn't usually much liquid left unabsorbed anyway.) ^Back