Coconut Beef Curry

By Zainab Shah

Updated October 8, 2025

  • David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
Media 1 of 2
Total Time
About 2 hours 20 minutes
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
2 hours
Rating
4(139)
Comments
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Vijay Kumar, the chef behind the Michelin-starred restaurant Semma in New York City, once told me, “Coconut and spices have a love connection.” Inspired by an intricate beef curry he taught me, this recipe has been reimagined for home cooks. There are still many ingredients and steps, and every one earns its place. This is a dish of texture, aroma and deeply coaxed flavor, where whole spices are toasted until they bloom with warmth and then get blended into a rich paste. That paste becomes the backbone of the curry, lending a complexity and depth that ground spices alone can’t achieve. Simmered with coconut milk and spiked with green chiles, the final curry is velvety, robust and soulful; the kind of dish that rewards patience and turns an ordinary dinner into a celebration. Serve it with paratha, rice or roti, and let the sauce shine.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

FOR THE MASALA PASTE

  • 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds 

  • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds

  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 

  • 1 teaspoon poppyseeds

  • 5 green cardamom pods

  • 12 cloves

  • 2 whole star anise 

  • 3 whole dried red chiles (preferably dundicut chiles)

  • 8 to 10 fresh curry leaves 

  • ¼ cup dried unsweetened grated coconut

FOR THE CURRY

  • 4 tablespoons sesame, canola or another neutral oil 

  • 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

  • 1 teaspoon ginger paste or freshly grated ginger 

  • 1 teaspoon garlic paste or freshly grated garlic 

  • 1 large red onion, finely chopped

  • Fine sea salt

  • 2 tablespoons ground coriander 

  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin 

  • 1 tablespoon Kashmiri or other red chile powder 

  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

  • 2 green bird’s-eye chiles, stems removed and split

  • 2 plum tomatoes, chopped 

  • 1 ¼ pounds boneless beef chuck or boneless short ribs, cut into 1-inch pieces 

  • 1 medium potato (optional), such as Yukon Gold, cubed into 1-inch pieces

  • 1 (13-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk 

  • Paratha, basmati rice or roti, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

37 grams carbs; 89 milligrams cholesterol; 693 calories; 15 grams monosaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 24 grams saturated fat; 47 grams fat; 9 grams fiber; 1009 milligrams sodium; 38 grams protein; 6 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Make the masala paste: Heat a medium fry pan on high heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until it is scalding hot. Add the peppercorns, coriander, cumin, fennel, poppyseeds, cardamom, cloves, star anise and chile. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently and reducing the heat more if the spices begin to smoke, until the seeds start to sputter and pop, about 5 minutes. Add curry leaves and coconut; continue to cook, stirring, for about 15 seconds, until the spices release an earthy, warm and smoky fragrance and the coconut darkens in color.

  2. Step 2

    Transfer the spice mixture to a blender. Add ¼ cup water and pulse for 2 to 3 minutes, until a smooth paste forms. To help the spice mixture blend more easily, scrape down the sides a couple times between pulses, and add up to ¼ cup more water if needed. Set aside.

  3. Step 3

    Make the curry: Heat oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot on medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until the oil starts to shimmer. Add mustard seeds and let them sputter briefly. (A pan lid is helpful to shield you from any spatter.) Add ginger and garlic and stir, then immediately add onion and a pinch of salt and stir again. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to soften and turn golden, about 15 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Stir in coriander, cumin, red chile powder, turmeric and green chile, and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes more, lowering the heat if the mixture begins to smoke. Stir in a splash of water if the mixture starts to stick.

  5. Step 5

    Reduce the heat to medium. Stir in tomatoes and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down and the oil starts to separate from the jammy mixture, 10 to 15 minutes, adding a splash of water any time the mixture starts sticking to the pot. Stir in the masala paste, then add beef and stir so it’s thoroughly coated with the masala. Stir in 1 cup water and cook at a low simmer for 40 to 50 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by half. (Feel free to add up to ¾ cup more water as it cooks, depending on how saucy you like your curry.)

  6. Step 6

    Add half of the coconut milk, bring to a simmer and cook for another 20 minutes. Add the potatoes, if using, bring to a simmer and continue to cook for another 20 minutes, until the beef and potatoes are tender. Stir in the remaining coconut milk and warm through, then taste and add more salt if needed. Serve with paratha, rice or roti.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
139 user ratings
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Comments

rk

For an Indian-style (non-Hindu, of course) curry such as this, the poppy seeds should be white rather than the black ones used in European cooking. They serve primarily as a thickener.

Melanie

@John McKaigney - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada add the beef in step 5

John McKaigney - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Hi, we are just making this really interesting curry right now BUT the recipe fails to tell us when to start cooking the beef ! Is it in step 5?? Is it in step 4 after the brief cooking of the spice mix ?? Very Very confusing !!!

Caterpillar

This is okay. Very earthy and bitter, I added 1.5tbsp brown sugar and served with yoghurt to round out the flavour profile. Definitely needs more than 2hrs cooking time for the potato and beef to soften. I also found that I couldn’t refine the spices to a paste in my mortar and pestle; next time I would grind them down first before adding any water. Overall this is fine but I think with the time and effort invested I could have made something much tastier.

Caterpillar

Forget whatever I said in my last comment this is so yuck. Had to throw away the leftovers. Maybe I’m uncultured but the flavour (and texture) really did not have a lot of redeeming qualities to me

hiroshi

I tasted and seasoned along the way, starting from the cooked tomatoes and dry spice mix, after adding the spice paste, after reducing the liquid by half, and after adding half a can of coconut milk + potatoes. The last step can dilute the spice-forwardness pretty significantly, and i only needed to add a touch more coconut milk at the end to get it where i wanted. Really good!

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Credits

Adapted from Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York City

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