Steak Akhni

I made the following curry and rice decided to mix it together and let it steam in the oven for 30 minutes – for a better flavour. It makes a huge difference than if the curry was eaten the usual way. I think it can be called an akhni. The best description of akhni I can give is that it is like a breyani without the lentils. Best served with raita and sambals. I eliminated onion and chilli from the sambals since I’m not the biggest fan of onion and I don’t do well eating fresh chilli.

My sister once asked me how I get a lot of gravy in my curry. The trick is to add a little more spices which allows you to add an extra tomato. If an extra tomato is added without increasing the spice quantity – the flavour gets lost. It tastes abit bland.

For the steak curry

• cubed steak
• chopped onion
• 1T chilli powder
• 1T dhania / jeera powder
• ½ T gharam masala
• ginger/garlic
• green chilli (optional)
• salt to taste
• tomatoes liquidized
• potatoes

Heat oil and sauté onions. Add spices and salt. Add steak and cook till done. I cheated a little and used the microwavable potatoes. Add tomatoes and let it cook abit.

Rice:

• 2 cups Basmati rice
• ½ t tumeric powder
• Salt

I boiled the rice and added tumeric for a light yellow colour.

Mix the curry and rice nicely and put in an ovenproof dish in the oven for 30 mins. I did this on 180ºC

Serve with raita and sambals. Raita is a sour-milk salad made of sour milk, fresh coriander, mint, green chilli, salt. Liquidize ingredients. Optional – add cucumber.