Golden Beef Curry: Complete Copycat Recipe (Homemade Curry Powder, Fond-Based)

Pressure-cook beef tendon and beef trimmings for 2 hours to make a beef fond (stock). Once the liquid has cooked down and concentrated, strain it. Store-bought concentrated bouillon and fond de veau alone lack a lively beef aroma, so reinforce it with the homemade fond.

Blend the homemade curry powder. Build a classic mix from spices familiar in Indian curry, then adjust it to taste like Japanese curry, combining 28 spices in all. Toast lightly to bring out the aroma, rest for 1 week until it comes together, then sift to remove any grittiness.

Cut the beef chuck roll and tendon into large pieces, allowing for shrinkage during simmering, and season with salt and pepper. Do not sear them: browning the surface prevents the soft, tender texture of the original.

Parboil the meat in boiling water for about 5 minutes to remove scum and off-odors, then simmer it in the prepared fond and bouillon. 30 minutes in a pressure cooker, or longer over low heat in a regular pot. Simmering the meat separately is key, since long cooking together with the curry drives off the spice aroma.

Slice the onion thinly, roughly chop the carrot and celery, and grate the garlic and ginger. Grind the spices in a mill each time, finishing them not as a complete powder but with a slight graininess remaining.

Put vegetable oil and onion in a pot and cook slowly over medium heat for about 30 minutes until deep amber. Use vegetable oil, since butter added here would lose its aroma. Once cooked, loosen with water (not included in the amounts) and blend until completely smooth.

Combine the carrot, celery, and mushrooms in the specified ratio and process into a paste in a food processor (blender). Run it long enough that no graininess remains, and heat them thoroughly beforehand to drive off moisture and off-odors.

Fry the grated garlic and ginger in oil to cook off the sharp aroma compound (allicin). Separately, toast the cake flour to the darkest point just before the bitterness stands out. Reduce the red wine in advance as well to concentrate its flavor.

Mix the sauteed onion and vegetable paste, then add the garlic-ginger paste, red wine, whole peeled tomatoes, curry powder (homemade plus store-bought), the ground cumin and coriander, Sichuan pepper, chili powder, and the toasted cake flour, and cook, working it into a thick paste.

Add the combined fond and consomme stock little by little to loosen it. Stir carefully so no lumps form. Return the separately simmered beef to the pot.

Once the meat is tender, add the finishing seasonings: chutney, apple jam, honey, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and butter, for depth and umami. Yeast extract is not available, so use a generous amount of soy sauce to reinforce the umami and adjust the overall salt level.

Simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes while adjusting the liquid, and it is done. However, a floury graininess remains right after simmering, so let it rest for about 2 hours for the smooth texture of the original. Curry takes several hours to come together.