Unakkirachi Ularthu
Dried/Curated Beef or simply Unakka Irachi as we Mallu's call is a specialty from Kerala .Meat was preserved by salting and drying it throughly before the era of refrigerators.
In summer meat would be sun-dried outdoors and during rainy season it would be smoked & dried over stove in the kitchen. The whole process would take several days & the dried meat could be stored for months.
How to make Unakka Irachi/Dried Beef
1.Beef-5 kg
Chilli powder-3-4 tbsps (adjust accordingly to your spice level)
Freshly ground pepper-2-3 tbsps
Turmeric powder-2 tsps
Salt as required
Trim all the fat and cut into thin strips (3"x3").Wash and drain .Marinate with lots of salt and the above masalas for atleast 2 hours.
On sunny days spread this over on trays in a single layer and allow it to sun dry often turning sides (every 2 hours)sothat the meat dries evenly on both sides.
The meat should loose all its water. This would take 3-5 days depending on the weather. This should yield around 1 1/2 kg of dried meat.Once dried u can store the meat for several months.
For making crushed dried beef fry
2.coconut oil-2 tbsps
Dried Beef-5-6 pieces
Whole dried red Chilli-10
Curry leaves-2 sprigs
Usually the dried meat is shallow fried in coconut oil till browned and then pulsed once cooled in a mixie.Since I don't want to damage my mixie blades,I prefer to cook the dried meat ,4-5 pieces in pressure cooker for 2 whistles with 1/4-1/2 cup water and drain the water. Then I pulse this in mixie.Set this aside.
Heat oil and fry the whole Chillies and then the curry leaves.Remove and pulse in mixie and add to the pulsed beef .
Now fry the pulsed beef along with the crushed Chillies and curry leaves on medium heat (in the same oil as we fried the Chillies and curry leaves)till
It's fried through.This will take 2-3 minutes. This can be stored in plastic jars as such for months outside and this is what I do to pack it for my son who is a Beef lover.
For Unakka Irachi Ularthu
3.Crushed dried beef fry-1 1/2 cup (made above)
Shallots-5
Green Chilli-4
Garlic-3 big
Curry leaves-1 sprig
Pepper powder-1/2 tsp
Coconut oil-1 tbsp
Crush the shallots,garlic & green Chillies.Heat oil and add the curry leaves and above crushed ingredients and stir fry for a minute.Add pepper powder and saute.Now add the crushed dried beef fry and saute for a minute or two. The Unakka Irachi Ularthu is ready to serve with rice
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