SSI food: Sajeeda’s Rohingya curry

“I came to Australia from Myanmar with my family in 2013 when I was 26 years old. I cook food from my Rohingya heritage, which has similar flavours to that of neighbouring Bangladesh and India.

“Rohingya people have a simple diet that consists primarily of staples rice, fish, vegetables, milk and hot chillies. We cook meat when we entertain guests, as it is considered disrespectful to serve a guest a meal that does not contain meat.

Sajeeda Bahadurmia, as featured in SBS Feast Magazine, is a regular cook at SSI Community Kitchen.

“I learned to cook from my mother when I was a teenager. We would use goat but now that I am in Australia, I like to use beef as this country is famous for its high-quality beef.

“In Rohingya culture we tend to use more chilli, along with traditional Indian spices so you must be cautious when eating a Rohinya curry!”

Rohingya Curry

Serves  4 

Ingredients

1 chopped onion

5 garlic cloves

1.5 teaspoons of chopped ginger

5 long green chillies

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 chopped tomatoes

2 bay leaves

4 cardamom pods

4 peeled and chopped potatoes

Vegetable oil

250ml (1 cup) of beef stock

1kg beef short ribs cut in to 6cm pieces

Salt and pepper to taste

Prep time: 20mins.  Cooking time: 4hours. 

Method: 

Place onion, garlic, ginger and chillies in a food processor and process to a smooth paste. Set aside.

Heat 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium-to-high heat.

Season beef with salt and pepper and add to pan. Cook beef, turning for 6 minutes or until browned. Remove beef from pan and set aside.

Add another  teaspoon of vegetable oil, then add the paste. Stir 4 minutes, or until starting to colour. Add  tomatoes,  bay leaves and cardamom pods. Cook for 2 minutes, then return the beef to the pan along with beef stock.

Bring to the boil, cover with a lid, and reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 hours, or until beef is very tender. Add potatoes and cook for a further 30 minutes or until tender.

Remove the lid and cook for 5 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced slightly. Serve with rice.

This recipe and article was originally published in SBS Feast Magazine (which is now out of business).