With the year wrapping up in a proper cold snap, we figured there’s no better time for a hearty, warming curry. Something to heat the cockles before the festive chaos begins.
You’ll find the original recipe in the mighty, beefy tome PRIME, but we’ve made a small tweak for the website: we’ve added a tangy red lentil dhal to cut through the deep, rich flavours that develop in the ox cheek after its long, lazy braise in beer.
And rather than discarding the strained onions and spices, we’ve folded all that soft, aromatic goodness into the dhal near the end for extra depth.
Just be sure to pick a good IPA—one for the pot, and one for yourself while you cook.
Cheers!
Ingredients - serves 4-6
1kg Ox cheeks
50g beef dripping
500g onions, peeled and finely sliced
6 fat garlic clove, finely grated
2 tps whole fennel seeds
2 black cardamom pods, lightly smashed
1 star anise, freshly ground
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp chilli powder
¼ tsp asafoetida
2 tsp Maldon sea salt flakes
850ml IPA Beer (we went with Under The Sun’ by Wild Beer Co)
200ml Beef Bones Gravy
30g fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 tbs crème fraîche
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Small handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped
Rotis, to serve
For the red lentil dhal
400g red lentils
2 knobs unsalted butter
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbs of leftover onion and spice mix from broth
1 lemon, juiced
Method
Preheat the oven to 140°C//275°F/Gas Mark 1.
In a large casserole, brown the ox cheeks in half the dripping, then remove and set aside. In the same pot, sweat the onions in the remaining dripping until soft, then add the garlic. Stir, add the spices and salt and gently fry for 30 seconds.
Place the cheeks on top of the onions, then pour in the IPA and the broth and add the ginger. Stir, bring up to a bubble, pop the lid on, place in the oven and cook for 3 hours, until the meat is tender.
Remove the cheeks and put them on a warm plate. Cover and keep warm.
Whilst the ox cheeks are braising, start on the dhal by putting the lentils into a saucepan and cover with 1 litre cold water and one knob of butter, and bring to a boil. Then simmer for 25 minutes, or until the lentils have completely broken down and put to one side.
When ready to eat, pop the casserole back over a medium-high heat. All the sauce to bubble and reduce to a ‘coating consistency’, then pass through a fine sieve (reserving the onions and spices), add the crème fraîche and chopped chilli. and adjust the salt to taste.
Put the cheeks and their resting juices back into the pot, stir gently, bring back to a bubbling heat.
To finish the dhal, add the other knob of butter to a frying pan and put over a high heat, then add the turmeric powder, reserved onion and spices and fry quickly for two minutes before adding the lentils to the pan. Stir through to warm through and thicken. Then add the lemon juice, stirring through and season to taste with Maldon Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
To serve, add a good dollop of the lentil dhal to the middle of the plate and gently fork the ox cheeks apart into bite sized pieces and place on top. Drizzle over the thick gravy and serve immediately with coriander and rotis.
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