A one-pot meal beef dish recipe with homemade curry sauce, made of coconut milk, tamarind sauce and garlic. This Tamarind Beef Curry is so fragrant and the sauce has a great balance of both sweet and sour flavors.
Tired of the same curry taste? Try this curry beef dish that is made without store-bought curry paste. This beef is flavored with homemade curry sauce that is made from tamarind paste, coconut milk and other ingredients that you can find in your pantry.
A one pot meal beef dish recipe with homemade curry sauce, made of coconut milk, tamarind sauce and garlic. The sauce is so fragrant and has a great balance of both sweet and sour flavors.
Tired of the same curry taste? Try this curry beef dish that is made without curry paste. This beef is flavored with homemade curry sauce that is made from tamarind paste, coconut milk and other ingredients that you can find in your pantry.
CHECK OUT MORE ASIAN RECIPES:
- TWICE-COOKED PORK BELLY – (SZECHUAN HUI GUO ROU)
- CHICKEN IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE
- SPICY SICHUAN NOODLES
- SWEET AND SOUR FISH
- HUNAN BEEF WITH CUMIN
- INSTANT POT MONGOLIAN BEEF
- SINGAPORE NOODLES (XING ZHOU MI FEN)
- GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN (SWEET AND SAVORY DEEP-FRIED CHICKEN)
- VEGETABLE STIR FRY WITH TOFU
- BEST PORK TENDERLOIN STIR FRY
- ASIAN GROUND BEEF STIR FRY
- THAI SALAD DRESSING
- MINCED PORK NOODLES WITH HOISIN SAUCE
- CHINESE EGGPLANT WITH MINCED PORK
- SHRIMP AND GREEN PEAS STIR FRY
- SESAME NOODLES (MA JIANG MIAN)
Fast and easy comfort meal. This Tamarind Beef Curry can be ready in about 30 minutes! Tamarind is a sour, dark fruit that is often used to make desserts, candy, salad dressing and is often used in savory dishes. When combined with sugar, tamarind gives the perfect balance of sweet and sour flavor. You can find fresh tamarind at any grocery market. For this recipe, I used a 100% tamarind paste that I purchase from my local Sprouts. It’s much quicker to make and I can save the remaining paste for later use in the fridge. You can use the same paste to make delicious Thai recipes, such as Pad Thai or use it as salad dressing, like this Crunchy Asian Slaw with Cabbage, Mango, Carrot and Tamarind Sauce
CHECK OUT MORE THAI RECIPES:
- GREEN PAPAYA SALAD
- SPICY THAI NOODLES – QUICK AND TASTY!
- THAI BASIL CHICKEN
- THAI SALAD DRESSING (THAI PEANUT SAUCE)
- THAI RED CURRY CHICKEN
- THAI LEMONGRASS SOUP
- EASY LARB RECIPE WITH CHICKEN
For this fragrant beef curry, I used top sirloin steak because it’s so versatile, juicy and flavorful. It has very little fat and no bones, which make it one of the easiest meats to prepare for stir fry. I thinly sliced the meat and season it well with black pepper before stir frying it in a wok or pan.
To make I also use brown sugar to add sweetness to this curry sauce / tamarind sauce to achieve a deeper, richer flavor of the dark caramel sauce. This Tamarind Beef Curry can be made in a big batch and may be store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Enjoy this curry with jasmine rice, and feel free to add bell peppers or other vegetables as curry dishes are a risk free entrée to play with.
One great thing about making a dish like this at home instead of ordering it while out is that you can play with the amount of sweetness. For my husband I can scale it way back, or simply adjust it to be more sweet for the kids. It’s difficult to do so at an Asian restaurant, when you usually only have controls of a spice level.
Curry paste can be great but similar to a pasta sauce it can taste so much better to create it on your own. There’s the pride and creativity that goes into making your own, and it often pays off. Hopefully you enjoy this recipe and add it to your list of go-to Asian food recipes.
Tamarind Beef Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or canola oil
- 1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin cut into thin strips
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped finely
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 stalk fresh lemongrass chopped finely
- 1 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup canned coconut cream full fat or reduced fat
- 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
- 12 ounces green beans trimmed and halved lengthways
- 1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leave
- cooked jasmine rice
- optional 1/2 tablespoon light brown sugar
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over high heat. Stir fry the beef in batches until browned. Transfer to a plate. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over medium high heat. Cook onion until soft, add garlic, lemongrass, star anise, and cinnamon stick. Stir fry for about 3 minutes or until fragrant.
- Add coconut cream and tamarind paste and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Optional: Add 1/2 tablespoon light brown sugar to add sweetness (or use more according to your liking)
- Return the beef sirloin into the wok, add green beans and stir fry for about 3 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and serve immediately with jasmine rice.
Candy
One of my sons would totally enjoy this dish. Going to have to surprise him and make it for him
Sarah Bailey
Now this is a curry that sees to be right up my other halves street! I bet he would absolutely love it – I think I might have to and make it for him one night soon! Thank you.
Jenn @ EngineerMommy
Wow this beef curry looks so delicious. I would love to make this for dinner this weekend. It would be perfect on Saturday night!
Amber Myers
What an amazing dish. I will have to make this for dinner one night. I’m sure everyone would love it.
Terri Steffes
My family would love this. I am not a fan of curry but I will eat it to make my family happy! It looks delicious!
Heather
What a gorgeous dish. I bet my family would love it if I made this for them.
Kita Bryant
Now that is a delicious and well balanced meal. I would love to make this beef!
Ronnie
There is nothing like a curry flavored dish, especially with coconut cream! This looks delicious and I want to make it for my family.
Amee
My mouth is watering just by looking at that dish. I love curry and I can’t wait to try your recipe.
Chubskulit Rose
This is something I would love to try. It’s been a while since I cook with tamarind, I miss asian cuisine.
Alyssa H
whoa! this sounds so good! I love curry but this sounds very different than the ones I usually eat. (and sooo delicious!)
Pam
That looks delicious! While I’m not a huge curry fan, the rest of my family is. I need to make this for them.
Mary Yaroscavitch
I’m not a big curry fan but I know my oldest does like it from time to time. I’ve pinned this so I can show her later .
Lisa Marie Heath
I absolutely love curry dishes! This looks so good, i’ll have to try to make it for my family!
Jona Shares
Wow, looks like a very delicious recipe. I didn’t know if this is the first time I learned about this and I am glad I came over your post. Will try this out and see how will my husband reacts on the output.
Tamara
This sounds so good. I love beef curry. I must try this recipe and pinning for later. Looks so delicious.
Rachel
This is something that I hear about in books but I had no idea what it would even taste like. It actually sounds delicious.
Shannan P
I have not yet tried to make a curry, but this could very well be my first! Looks delicious!