Beef Pickle (Irachi Achaar)

Ingredients

• Beef cut into bite-sized pieces- 1 kg
• ½ cup Ginger (minced)
• ½ cup Garlic (minced)
• 1 tsp Pepper powder
• ½ cup Kashmiri Chilli powder (adjust to your taste)
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp Fenugreek powder
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Salt (adjust to your taste)
• 2 springs Curry leaves
• ¾ cup Vinegar
• ¾ cup Water
• Oil- as required (I used sesame oil)

Method

1. Combine the vinegar and water in a pan and bring to a boil. Take off heat and let it cool.
2. Grind the ginger and garlic to make fine pastes. Keep aside.
3. Mix the beef with 1 tablespoon each of the ginger paste and garlic paste, pepper powder, salt, 1 teaspoon chilli powder and ½ teaspoon turmeric powder.
4. Cook the beef in a pressure cooker till it is done. Cook further till all the liquid dries off.
5. Heat a teaspoon oil in a pan, tip in the cooked beef and stir fry for 8-10 minutes and keep it aside.
6. Heat oil in another pan (¼ cup or more) and add the mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add the curry leaves followed by the remaining ginger-garlic pastes. Saute till the pastes turn slightly brown in colour.
7. Lower the heat and add the chillli powder, fenugreek powder and turmeric powder and mix well for a minute.
8. Add the beef and stir well. Increase the heat. Stir for 2 minutes.
9. Switch off heat and add the vinegar-water mixture and stir well. Let it cool completely.
10.  Remove the curry leaves from the pickle mixture with a fork and transfer the mixture into dry and clean containers (it shouldn’t be plastic).

The pickle tastes better as they get older. Ideally store them in a refrigerator.