Mezbani Gosht

Ingredients

Meat

• 2 kgbeef on the bone
• in large pieces, with some fat
• 1 tablespoonsalt

The wet paste

• 4onions, sliced
• 12garlic cloves
• 6cm ginger
• 6dried red chillies, soaked

The ground spices

• 3 tablespoonschilli powder
• or to taste
• 2 tablespoonsground coriander
• 1 tablespoonground cumin
• 2 teaspoonsground turmeric
• 1 teaspoonground black pepper

The whole spices

• 4bay leaves
• 2cinnamon sticks
• 8green cardamom pods
• 4black cardamom pods
• 8cloves
• 1 teaspoonfennel seed
• 1star anise

The pot

• 200 mlmustard oil
• or any oil
• 2 tablespoonsroasted spice powder
• made from the whole spices
• about 1 litre water
• salt

To serve

• plain white rice
• raw onion and green chilli
• in seatings, at a mezban

Directions

1. Reduce the chilli if you want to. Beef on the bone is what this needs. Soak the dried chillies in hot water. Give them about twenty minutes. Put the sliced onions in a blender. Add the garlic and the ginger. Add the soaked drained chillies.
2. Blend it down to a smooth paste. The oils stay on skin for hours. Wash hands, board and blender thoroughly. Warm the whole spices in a dry pan. Shake it constantly as they toast. Give them about three minutes. Let the toasted spices cool completely. Grind them all to a fine powder. Hot spices go pasty in a grinder.
3. Cool ones grind to a clean powder. Let them cool right down first. Keep two tablespoons of the powder back. Put the beef into a large bowl. Add half the blended paste to it. Add the ground spices and the salt. Turn it so it is all well coated. Give it at least one full hour.
4. Heat the mustard oil in a very large pot. Let it heat until it just smokes. Then take it off for a moment. Let it cool a little before cooking in it. Return the pot to a medium heat. Add the bay leaves and cinnamon. Add the cardamom, cloves and star anise. Fry them for about one full minute. Add the rest of the blended paste. Fry it over a steady medium heat. Give it about fifteen minutes.
5. Oil should separate out at the edges. It should smell cooked rather than raw. Oil rising clear is the sign it is ready. Add the marinated beef to the pot.
6. Turn it through the paste thoroughly. Give it about ten full minutes. Keep turning it over as it cooks. Add all of the water to the pot. Season it with plenty of salt. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot and lower the heat. Let it cook for two and a half hours. Tough beef needs hours to become tender. Stir it every half hour or so. A thick spice gravy catches on the bottom.
7. Stir right into the corners of the pot. Use a heavy pot to help with that. Judging the beef takes a check. Cook it on if it still resists. It should be thick and dark red. Oil should be visible at the surface. It should cling to all of the meat.
8. Take the lid off near the end. Let it reduce for twenty minutes. Stir in the reserved roasted spice powder. Let it cook for five more minutes. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. A large pot needs a great deal of salt. Taste it properly right at the end. Take the pot right off the heat.
9. Let it stand for twenty minutes. Serving it is always done hot. Ladle it over plain white rice. Serve raw onion and green chilli alongside. It keeps three days refrigerated.

Technique

• Mezban is a Chittagong feast held for a death, a birth, the fulfilment of a vow and many other occasions, feeding hundreds and sometimes thousands from enormous degs cooked by specialist hired cooks. People eat in seatings — one group then the next, through the day — and it is genuinely open to all, with rich and poor eating the same food together.
• The whole spices are toasted and ground, and two tablespoons of that powder is held back to go in at the very end: long cooking dulls aromatic spices, and adding some fresh at the close restores what was lost. The whole pot lifts noticeably.
• Mustard oil is heated until it just smokes and then taken off before cooking in it, which removes the raw pungency; and the blended paste needs a full fifteen minutes of frying until it darkens and the oil separates clear at the edges, which is the sign it is ready.

Substitutions

• Any oil stands in for mustard oil, though mustard gives the distinct Bengali character.
• Shoulder, shin and rib all work; lean steak would be wrong, since this needs a tough cut and long cooking.

Variations

• The chilli can be reduced and the dish still works, though it will not be a mezbani curry; the atlas notes that plainly.
• The rice is deliberately plain so it carries the intense gravy rather than competing with it.
• It is better on the second day, and rests twenty minutes off the heat before serving.

History

Served at mezban, a Chittagong feast held for funerals, births and vows, where whole neighbourhoods are fed in seatings from communal cauldrons.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mezbani Gosht?

Mezbani Gosht is a main from Bangladesh: fiery beef curry cooked in vast pots for community feasts. Served at mezban, a Chittagong feast held for funerals, births and vows, where whole neighbourhoods are fed in seatings from communal cauldrons.

How long does Mezbani Gosht take to make?

Mezbani Gosht takes 45 minutes of preparation and 3 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 10. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Mezbani Gosht?

Yes, within limits. Any oil stands in for mustard oil, though mustard gives the distinct Bengali character. Shoulder, shin and rib all work; lean steak would be wrong, since this needs a tough cut and long cooking.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mezbani Gosht?

Blend it down to a smooth paste. The oils stay on skin for hours. Wash hands, board and blender thoroughly. Warm the whole spices in a dry pan. Shake it constantly as they toast. Give them about three minutes. Let the toasted spices cool completely. Grind them all to a fine powder. Hot spices go pasty in a grinder.