Dear vegetarian and healthy eating friends, please stop reading.
I confess, bone marrow is delicious….. incredibly luxurious and surprisingly under-appreciated. We got two very large beef bones, cut up into six, 3-inch pieces for about $5. I wanted to try making a spiced beef bone soup tradionally sopped up with warm naan or hearty bread.
Beef Nehari
- I had 3lbs of bones and 1 lb of meat. Brown. Set aside.
- Saute 1 cup of sliced onions in the beef browning oil.
- Add…1 tablespoon of ginger paste, 1 teaspoon of black cumin (Shah Jeera), 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cardamom pods, 3 cloves. Saute until fragrant. (add whatever spices you prefer to flavor your soup)..I think Chinese five spice would be good too.
- Add the bones back. Add enough water to cover the bones.
- Simmer for 2 hours. Add salt and pepper.
- Simmer for another hour or two until the meat relaxes and tenderizes.
- Sprinkle red chilies and cilantro. Serve with Naan, Paratha or any flat bread.
The paratha recipe is a bit trickier to explain. A lot of it is about “feeling” the gluten develop. I used bread flour and my parathas turned out denser than usual…less light, flaky…flattened croissant texture that I like. My grandmother was a master at this. Watching her make these buttery flatbreads was mesmerizing.
This is the point where the bread is rolled out, ghee is applied and the dough is rolled up into these rosettes to be flattened…and rolled out again. This process gives the bread its flaky layers.
The fried eggplant on the right bottom of the image turned out to be bitter. Oh well. The cucumber, tomato, cilantro, shallot and vinegar salad helped balance the rich bone soup.
With the leftover spicy beef broth, I’m planning to make a rice pilaf. I imagine it will taste close to a biriyani. Maybe add some peas and serve it with a cool cucumber yogurt raita.
Good for a cold winter day and shared with a crowd.
Looking forward to the end of winter,
Hungryphil
The Hungry Philosopher 