Pasanda are slices of beef that is a hit in any Pakistani family. A majority of Pakistanis I know and that is Mr. Riaz included loves meat very much.
Step 1: I added 4 tbs of olive oil and I washed the pieces of thinly sliced steaks. It was a total of 6 which was enough for Mr. Riaz and me for dinner and take some for lunch the next day when he went to work. I pounded them with a meat mallot to tenderize them and in my cast iron skillet I fried in a couple of batches 3 at a time until they were brown and well cooked and set them aside.
I now start working on the curry part which is Step 2: I cut 1 onion or shallot in to half moon slices and I brown them. I add in my mortar and pestle 1 whole red chili, 1 pinch each of cumin seeds, coriander seeds and black peppercorns, 1 clove and 1 green cardamom and ground in to a coarse powder. I added 1 pinch each of pink salt, garam masala, red chili powder and turmeric powder to the fried onion in the cast iron skillet. I stirred and added the contents from my mortar and pestle in to the rest of the masala mixture.
I added 1 chopped tomato and 1 pinch of cilantro and added it to the masala mixture and stirred frequently until the tomato turned mushy. I added 1 small slice of ginger I washed and peeled and 2 cloves of garlic to my mortar and pestle and made a paste and added it to the masala mixture in cast iron skillet and stirred until the rawness went away.
I have 1/4 cup of water near by incase if it is a little dry and I add a little at a time until the tomatoes that turned mushy have developed a nice curry.
Step 3: this is the finisher. I add 4 tbs of yogurt to the bowl and add 1 pinch of cornstarch and mix it vigorously until it is well blended and I added 3 tbs of water and mixed again and poured the yogurt mix in with the masala base and cooked it very well and I add back the pasanda (sliced beef) until it was well mixed. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
This is ready to serve now. Eat with naan or chapati .
