Two of the four chillies in this Hairy Bikers beef madras never get chopped, because they go in whole with just a split down one side. That trick comes from their Eat for Life recipe, which serves 4 at a book-stated 346 calories, with the oven doing most of its 2 hours.
The book files it under fakeaways, since the whole point is a takeaway-hot madras that a diet can survive. So the book titles it Fiery Beef Madras honestly, though the heat is managed and the fat nearly absent.
The sauce earns its depth before the beef ever appears though, which is the step that separates this from a thin curry. Onion, garlic, chopped chilli, and curry powder fry hard, then the tomatoes cook down until the mixture turns thick and deep red.
Hairy Bikers Beef Madras Curry Recipe
Description
A high-heat base of onion, garlic, and chopped chilli takes curry powder, tinned tomatoes, and purée, cooking until the liquid is gone and the base darkens. Chunks of braising steak turn through it with sugar, salt, and two split whole chillies, then beef stock covers everything for a slow oven braise until tender, finished with cooling yoghurt.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare the chillies and beef: Heat the oven to 170°C. Finely chop 2 of the chillies, split the other 2 from stalk to tip down one side without opening them, then trim the beef and cut it into 3cm chunks.
- Fry the base hard: Get a flameproof casserole hot, then fry the onion, garlic, and chopped chillies in the oil over a high heat for a minute. Sprinkle in the curry powder and stir it through for a few seconds.
- Cook the sauce down: Add the tomatoes and purée, then keep everything moving over a medium-high heat for 5 minutes, until the liquid has gone and the sauce sits thick and deep red. Watch it closely, because burnt garlic or spices turn the whole pot bitter.
- Coat the beef: Stir in the beef, the whole split chillies, the sugar, and the salt, then turn the chunks for a couple of minutes until lightly coloured and fully coated.
- Braise until tender: Pour in the stock, bring it to a simmer, then cover and move the dish to the oven for 1½ to 1¾ hours, until the beef gives easily. If the sauce runs thin, a few minutes back on the hob tightens it.
- Serve with yoghurt: Spoon the madras out with a tablespoon of yoghurt per person, which cools the fire exactly where you want it. Rice or chapatis alongside, with the book’s gentle reminder that they carry their own calories.
FAQs
Why do two chillies go in whole and split?
Because a split chilli seasons without committing, since the cut lets flavour and gentle heat leach out while the seeds stay contained inside. The chopped pair provides the base fire, and the whole pair deepens it slowly through the braise.
It also puts you in control at the table, because whoever wants real heat can crush a whole chilli into their bowl.
How hot is a madras, and can I make this milder?
Madras sits a step below vindaloo, hot enough to notice but built on flavour rather than pain. The book’s own adjustment is dropping to just 2 chillies and removing all the seeds, which keeps the character while pulling the sting.
The yoghurt at the end is not decoration either, since its fat and acidity genuinely calm capsaicin. Their beef rendang manages heat the opposite way, drowning it slowly in coconut instead.
Why is this madras only 346 calories?
It comes from the fakeaways chapter of their diet book, written so a takeaway craving stops wrecking the week. One tablespoon of oil, fat-free yoghurt, and trimmed braising steak do the cutting, while the flavour load stays on chillies, curry powder, and reduced tomatoes.
A takeaway beef madras can run two or three times higher, so this is the rare swap that costs almost nothing in taste.
Can I make it with chicken instead of beef?
The book pre-approves the swap in its own headnote, using 12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs and chicken stock in place of beef. Thighs stay juicy through the braise where breast would dry out, so don’t trade down.
For the same book’s other fakeaway-style curry, their chicken bhuna works the drier, thicker end of the spectrum.
Does beef madras work in a slow cooker?
Yes, and the conversion is friendly because the dish is already a covered braise. Build the thick tomato base in a pan first, since that hard reduction is where the flavour lives, then slow cook everything on low for 7-8 hours with 500ml of stock instead of 750ml.
Finish with a hob simmer if the sauce needs tightening. For the same cut given the full French-style treatment instead, their braised beef presses its vegetables into the sauce.
