This post was originally published on June 9, 2018 based on the dum kay pasanday recipe from Kausar Ahmed’s book, “The Karachi Kitchen”. I recently updated it in order to prepare it in the slow cooker with a few spice adjustments.
Katherine Ferguson was kind enough to send me a copy of Kausar Ahmed’s book, “The Karachi Kitchen” in December last year. The book is a small collection of classic and contemporary flavors of Pakistan. Born in Karachi, Kausar is a food stylist, chef and cooking instructor that splits her time between Pakistan and the United States. To learn more about her work, check out my interview of her here.
I enjoyed perusing through the book but didn’t have time to test out any of her recipes till several months later. I especially enjoyed making dum kay pasanday – beef strips marinated in a glorious spice blend and then slow cooked over a few hours. It’s a richer variation of an old recipe, Anita’s Bhuna Ghosht that I like to make in the winter. Another recipe that is inspired by Kausar’s book is this chicken hara masala.
I recently took another stab at the recipe because I wanted to test it out in the slow cooker. The big change was that I first fried the marinated beef strips in oil before tossing them into the slow cooker with a cup of water. I also tinkered a bit with the spices to soften the flavor.
I’m looking forward to preparing this during the next Eid. It’s a flavorful, celebratory main that pairs well with both pulao and roti. Kausar however, specifically recommends serving it with some piping hot naan.
Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Dum Kay Pasanday (Masala-Rubbed Roast Beef)
Ingredients
Spice Rub
- 1 tsp black peppercorn
- 1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 1 inch cinnamon stick broken into small pieces
- 5 dried red chilies
Beef
- 2.2 lbs beef tenderloin trimmed and chopped into thin 2-inch slices
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- ¼ cup oil canola/sunflower/vegetable
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
Instructions
- Toast spices in a dry skillet on medium-low heat for 3 - 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until mustard seeds begin to pop. Cool completely and then grind into a powder using a spice or coffee grinder.
- In a large platter, mix the beef, salt, yogurt, lemon juice, ginger and garlic paste and spice mix. Marinate for 2 hours, or more.
- Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion and fry until caramelized, about 10 minutes.
- Add the marinated beef and cook on high heat till the meat is no longer pink, 5-7 minutes.
- Remove from stove. Place in Crock-Pot or any slow cooker, add 1 cup water. Cook on low heat for 6 hours or high heat for 3 hours. Serve warm.
Can the last step be done in a pressure cooker versus slow cooker or would this impact the result?
Hi Miriam! This can definitely be done with a pressure cooker or instant pot. I would cook it for around 30 minutes with 1 cup of water. Let me know how it turns out.
Thanks for the recipe! Bookmarked to try!
Kitchen Utensils Review
wow nice dish ,sounds good,i love pasanday 😍
Thank you – me too!
What is the garnish on top in the photo?
It’s julienned ginger and chopped cilantro