Indian Ground Beef Coconut Curry

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If you want to make a tasty stew to keep you warm this fall/winter, you’ve found it!

instant pot kerala ground meat coconut curry

Indian Ground Beef Coconut Curry is a Keralite dish

In Kerala, they make a ton of stew, or as they call it: ishtu. Ishtu. It’s fun to say… and even more fun to eat. You can make all kinds of ishtu with chicken, lamb, beef, potatoes, eggs, etc. Because this is a mildly spiced stew, it’s usually eaten for breakfast, but in our house, we eat ishtu for lunch or dinner.

“I truly cannot believe this recipe does not have 700 likes and Five stars. I have made this recipe for years, shared it with friends, bought enough black mustard seeds to share with my neighborhood for 5 years, bought a curry plant that we NURTURE for this recipe ALONE and I get requests from it from my family ALL the time. Absolutely a hug in a bowl. The ONLY thing I do differently from the recipe (I rarely follow a recipe…this one is printed and pulled up OFTEN and followed to a tee) is I add peas JUST because we love peas. And to had color if I don’t have fresh herbs to tops it with. THANK you for this staple in my life.”

Amy H.

When making beef ishtu, I’ll usually use the leftover beef from my Indian Fried Beef recipe, but when I don’t have fried beef in the freezer, I’ll use ground beef instead.

I usually use one can of coconut milk when making this dish, but you can use two or add water/stock if you prefer a soupier stew. I make my stew nice and hearty – a lot of meat with every bite.

If you like a spicy stew, add more Serrano peppers. The recipe below is subtly spiced but still packs a lot of flavors.

instant pot kerala ground meat coconut curry

Love this recipe? Give one of my other Keralite recipes a try!

Keralite Recipes to Try:

Indian Ground Beef Coconut Curry

instant pot kerala ground meat coconut curry

Indian Ground Beef Coconut Curry

5 from 11 reviews
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Servings 4
Cuisine Indian

Ingredients
 

  • 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
  • 1 large red onion finely chopped
  • 1 serrano pepper minced (I used a small one to make a mild curry. Add more if you like it spicy)
  • 2 sprigs curry leaves
  • 1 tablespoon garlic minced (~4 garlic cloves)
  • 1- inch piece ginger minced

Spices

 

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 3 medium carrots chopped
  • 1 potato chopped (optional)
  • 1 can coconut milk canned and full fat (add more coconut milk or water if you like a thinner curry)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Heat coconut oil in a pan over medium heat and add mustard seeds. Once seeds start to pop, add onions, serrano pepper and curry leaves.
  • Once onions begin to brown, add garlic and ginger.
  • Add the spices and let them bloom – then add ground beef.
  • Cook the beef until it’s mostly browned, then add the carrots, potato and ¼ cup of water.
  • Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
  • Add coconut milk and simmer until the potatoes are tender (approx. 15 minutes).
  • Adjust salt and pepper and add water if you prefer a thinner curry.
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Just for fun, here’s an old picture from 2013:

Indian Ground Beef Coconut Stew – this is an old photo from 2013!

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About Ashley

Hi, I’m Ashley. Thanks for being here! I truly believe that food brings us closer together. Gather around a table with good food and good people, and you’ll have the ingredients you need to create some happy memories. My hope is that you find recipes here that you can’t wait to share with family and friends.

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Comments

  1. Amy Hollands says

    5 stars
    I truly cannot believe this recipe does not have 700 likes and Five stars. I have made this recipe for years, shared it with friends, bought enough black mustard seeds to share with my neighborhood for 5 years, bought a curry plant that we NURTURE for this recipe ALONE and I get requests from it from my family ALL the time. Absolutely a hug in a bowl. The ONLY thing I do differently from the recipe (I rarely follow a recipe…this one is printed and pulled up OFTEN and followed to a tee) is I add peas JUST because we love peas. And to had color if I don’t have fresh herbs to tops it with. THANK you for this staple in my life.

  2. Beck and Bulow says

    5 stars
    Absolutely gorgeous. We’ve done it with lamb too and equally as nice. We add a little more chilli powder for a wee bit more of a kick. Will add fresh chilli next time

  3. Farha says

    Hi Ashley, great recipe! Can’t wait to try. Can this be eaten with rice/paratha/roti or is better to be eaten as only soup?

    • Ashley - My Heart Beets says

      Hi Farha, you can serve this with rice or paratha but it’s good enough to eat on its own. If I’m making it as part of a meal for guests, I serve it with rice – but if I’m making it for the family I’ll serve it as soup. Traditionally though, it’s served with matta rice or a rice pancake called appam.

  4. Ben says

    It looks like a good recipe, but it seems weird to talk about an “Indian ground beef” dish when Cows are sacred animals in Hindu majority India and aren’t eaten.

    • My Heart Beets says

      Ben, I can understand that. As a north Indian myself, I had never heard of Indian beef until meeting my husband whose south Indian family is Catholic and from Kerala where beef is consumed. Let me know if you give it a try 🙂

      • Tina says

        What a graceful reply! Sounds like Ben has never broken bread with any of the millions of Indian Christians around the world (almost 30 million in India alone). Even some Hindus in India eat beef (just ask my family). Great site; I’ve tried many of your recipes and hope to someday impress my own Christian Indian mother-in-law with this recipe!

  5. Neethu says

    Hi Ashley ,
    I am glad that I stumbled upon this recipe . I usually make Keema with peas and carrots and was looking for a different one . It came out pretty good. Like we make stew in Kerala ii made 2 coconut milk of two consistency , 1st paal( thick one ) and 2nd paal which is the thinner version.instead of water Ii used the second paal and the end topped of the curry with second paal. I like a little sour taste so added vinegar too. It came out well ,thank you so much and I plan of making more of your recipes.

  6. Colleen says

    Hi Ashley, I have questions about the curry leaves. I can’t get them easily, so the bunch I did get recently, I want to preserve. How would I best do that? I have a dehydrator and could dry them, but if I were to freeze them, how to do that? Also, for this recipe, are the sprigs to be removed before serving? Thanks 🙂

    • My Heart Beets says

      Hi Colleen, I suggest freezing them! Just put them in a ziplock bag and then before you use them in a recipe, give them a quick rinse. I use just the leaves, not the twig part. Typically, food is served with curry leaves but you’re supposed to treat them like whole spices and push them to the side of the plate (you can eat them, but most do not). I’ve written a detailed blog post on curry leaves if you want to learn more – let me know if you have any more questions!

  7. Sudeepta says

    This is a Dream curry. Worked perfectly well. Just got back from a Kerala holiday and this cured the Big Nostalgia. Can’t wait to try other recipes.

  8. Maddy says

    5 stars
    I’m doing a sugar/carb detox and this recipe was compatible (minus the potato). This is definitely going to be one of my go to recipes! My children (2 and 7 years) LOVED it! They were even stealing my food off my plate because they finished theirs so quickly. Thank you for the recipe!

  9. M P says

    5 stars
    I was looking for an Indian recipe that used ground beef and I stumbled on your blog. We made the Indian Ground Beef Coconut Curry. I substituted sweet potato for the carrot and threw in a bit of spinach. Huge dinner hit! We will definitely make this one again. As we are gluten-free and love Indian food, we are very excited to try more of your recipes.

    Thanks!

  10. Ruth says

    5 stars
    Ashley, I’ve been making your recipes with great success for a while, but I never bothered to thank you. Sorry! Thank you, thank you, thank you! My family enjoys your recipes immensely and it is so lovely to have things like empanadas and samosas back on the menu!

  11. Brandy says

    5 stars
    I stumbled upon your site while looking at Paleo Grubs and can i just say i fell in love with wanting to make this recipe. I made it this evening and it will be a repeat in my kitchen. The flavors were so good, even my 7 year old daughter who helped make it enjoyed it! I will be checking out your site regularly for new recipes to try 🙂 Thank you again for posting this and sharing this amazing creation!

    • My Heart Beets says

      Brandy, I’m so glad you and your daughter liked this curry! It’s one of our favorites 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how it turned out – hope you’ll let me know if you try anything else on the blog!

  12. Megan says

    5 stars
    This was amazing! We omitted the onions, carrots and potatoes (didn’t have any) and added spinach. We doubled the recipe but not the coconut milk. We served it over cauliflower rice. Highly recommend this recipe.

  13. Salina says

    I have made this twice and absolutely love it. I had to make some minor substitutions for items I did not have on hand but pretty much generally followed it. I used ground beef once and then ground lamb. Both were wonderful. Thanks so much for posting this! Found your site while searching for a ground beef curry recipe.

  14. CHS says

    So excited I have stumbled onto your site! I am cooking for my one-year-old so sadly cannot have much spice (heat)… what do I need to omit/exchange in this recipe? Would a red pepper work for the serrano? Do I need to omit anything from the meat masala? Thanks!

    • My Heart Beets says

      Glad you found my site too! You can leave the serrano pepper out altogether – the dish will still have plenty of flavor. As for the meat masala – you’ll have taste it to make sure it’s not too spicy (from the black peppercorns). Coconut milk tends to balance out spices, but I’d err on the side of caution. After all, you can always add some crushed red pepper into your bowl of curry if you think it’s too bland! I hope that helps!

  15. Doughty says

    So delicious!! Your recipe has that wonderful richly spiced taste that I always hope the curries that I make at home will have, but often don’t. After such success, we had your cashew and cardamom smoothie this morning and it was delicious as well. I’m adding your blog to our favorites. Thanks so much for sharing!

  16. Grace says

    Hi Ashley!
    I just found your blog while looking for a recipe that combined coconut milk and ground beef! I’m excited to try this recipe and many more.
    Thanks!

  17. Beth says

    Hi Ashley,

    I just stumbled upon your website today via a shared post from Delicious Obsessions (FB) and I’m very interested in following more of a Paleo diet. Very cool recipes posted. Thanks for sharing so many. I do have a question for you and that is – is the coconut milk used to thicken the liquids? I’m going to try a few recipes and I’ll let you know how I get them to turn out. Thanks again.

    Beth

    • My Heart Beets says

      Hi Beth! I use coconut milk a lot – it can serve a different purpose in different recipes. This particular recipe is a Keralite dish and in Kerala they make a lot of coconut curries because it adds to the flavor. Sometimes though I’ll use it to add a creamy texture or in place of yogurt when using a marinade. When I do that, I try to mask the coconut flavor with different spices (i.e. my butter chicken and tandoori chicken recipes). I hope this helps? Please let me know what you try!

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