Slow Cooker Beef Jalfrezi

I started yesterday morning thinking I was going to make a Chilli con Carne.  I had 600g of ox cheek in the freezer which would need a bit of padding to make it into enough for a family of five.  But then I remembered that there was a curry with peppers in it, and after a bit of googling, I turned up a Beef Jalfrezi.

I loosely based my slow cooker version on The Curry Guy's recipe for Chicken Jalfrezi.  This, he describes, is usually a kind of Indian stir fry.  But mine was cooked in the slow cooker out of necessity, a) because that is the only way to cook ox cheek, and b) I needed a no fuss meal blipping away out of my way.

Interestingly, having toyed with making a Chilli, 6 year old Big Boy walked back into the house after school, sniffed the air, and said "smells like we're having Chilli con Carne".

600g ox cheek, cubed
3 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp turmeric powder
5  garlic cloves
3 cm root ginger
1 large onion
1tbsp cumin seeds
1 tin tomatoes
1 bell pepper (any colour)
1tbsp coriander powder
1/2-1 tsp hot chilli flakes
1tsp garam masala
1tsp salt

Place the peeled and roughly chopped onion, garlic and ginger (no need to peel the ginger), and turmeric in a mini processor with a little water and liquidise.

Brown the cubed ox cheek in the oil in a frying pan.  When browned, lift out with a slotted spoon and place in the warming slow cooker.

Add the cumin seeds to the hot oil left in the frying pan once the meat has been removed.  As soon as they start to sizzle, add the onion paste.  Fry the paste until it starts to stick.

Meanwhile liquidise the tomatoes in the the mini processor and add these to the frying pan when the paste starts to dry out and catch on the bottom.  I then blitzed the pepper to hide it from the kids, but you could just cube it if you wish.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients, plus a can full of recently boiled water.  When it starts to simmer, pour over the ox cheek in the slow cooker and cook on high for 6-8 hours.  Serve with boiled basmati rice.

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