Slow Cooker Beef Madras Curry

By: Gus Published: Updated:

If you are looking for a slow cooker beef madras curry that is packed with flavor and delivers the heat, look no further.

Slow Cooker Beef Madras Curry

The homemade curry paste helps bring a huge amount of color and flavor to this dish. After a few hours of slow cooking, the beef will be super tender and packed with all the lovely flavors of the curry sauce. It is a curry that you will not regret making.

The origin of the madras curry is India, but the name is not used in India. The name originated out of restaurants in Britain. It is yet another great Indian curry with a heavy British influence. I highly recommend that you give it a try.

You should get roughly six serves without needing to make any adjustments to the recipe. I do recommend that you make some side dishes to go with the curry. For example, some steamed rice and naan bread are excellent choices.

Beef Madras Curry with naan bread

I love taking leftover curry to work for lunch, so I highly recommend keeping leftovers. Simply store in the fridge and reheat whenever you feel like some delicious curry. The leftovers should last a few days; otherwise, you can freeze them.

What to Serve with Beef Madras Curry

Below are some ideas on what to serve alongside this delicious curry. If you have any ideas you want to share, please do not hesitate to leave a comment.

I highly recommend cooking some steamed rice to go with the curry. If you are trying to keep things low-carb, you should consider making some fried cauliflower rice. It is an excellent alternative to regular rice.

Curry is also pretty good served over the top of some mashed potatoes. So, if you are a huge fan of mashed potatoes, I recommend you give it a try. It is super delicious.

Beef Madras Curry in the Slow Cooker

There are plenty of additional side dishes that you can make to go with curry. For example, a good naan bread always goes well with a curry. I also love some papadums, but it is usually that or the naan bread.

If you want to see how to make this beef madras curry in the slow cooker, then be sure to check out the video that I have put together. Alternatively, you can find the full written recipe right underneath the video.

Slow Cooker Beef Madras Curry Recipe

5/5 (100%) 6 votes
Prep Time30 Minutes
Cook Time8 Hours & 15 Minutes
Total Time8 Hours & 45 Minutes
Serves6

Ingredients

Curry Paste

  • 3 tsp garlic, crushed
  • 2 tsp ginger, minced
  • 2 tsp black pepper, ground
  • ½ tsp cinnamon, ground
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tsp turmeric, ground
  • ¼ cup coriander, ground
  • 2 tsp mustard seeds
  • ¼ cup cumin, ground
  • ¼ cup malt vinegar (Amazon)
  • 1 Tbsp oil

Everything Else

  • 1 kg (2.2 lb) beef, cubed
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 2 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 400 g (14.1 oz) crushed tomatoes
  • 1 cup beef stock

Instructions

  1. Firstly, in a bowl, add all the curry paste ingredients, stir until a smooth paste.
  2. In a frypan over high heat, quickly brown the beef. Once browned, put to the side.
  3. In the same frypan, add the curry paste and cook until fragrant. Approximately 3-5 minutes.
  4. Transfer the beef and curry paste to a slow cooker. Next, add the onion, tomato paste, chili powder, crushed tomatoes, and beef stock.
  5. Cook on low for 8 hours or until the beef is tender.
  6. Serve & Enjoy.

Recipe Tips

  • If you need this recipe to be gluten-free, then make sure you use some apple cider vinegar instead of malt vinegar.
  • You can skip the browning of the beef and the frying of the curry paste. However, I do find that you will lose a lot of flavor and texture by doing so.
  • If you want to use a store-bought madras curry paste, simply add three-quarters of a cup of jar curry paste instead of making the homemade version. I still highly recommend taking the time to make the homemade madras curry paste.
  • I highly recommend adjusting the chili powder if you do not like spicy food. Two teaspoons will give you a hot curry, anything higher will likely make your mouth burn. If you do not like spicy food, then I highly recommend lowering the quantity.
  • If you find that the curry is a little too spicy, try serving some dairy with it. Yogurt always goes well with curry.

Equipment I use

I use a 5.5L (6 Quart) slow cooker (Amazon | Walmart) for all the recipes that I have on this website unless specified. If you have a smaller or larger slow cooker, then you might need to adjust the ingredients.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 299g (10.5 oz)
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Calories Per Serving: 305
Amount Per Serving
Total Fat: 14.1g
Saturated Fat: 3.4g
Trans Fat: 0.6g
Total Carbohydrate: 10g
Dietary Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 4g
Cholesterol: 123mg
Sodium: 401mg
Protein: 37g

The information above is an estimate generated by an online nutrition calculator.

Posted on , under Beef, Curry, Gluten-Free, Indian.

More Slow Cooker Curries

There are so many other curries that you can make in the slow cooker. Below are a couple of my favorite curries that you should give a try.

Even though I love this curry, I also love Massaman beef curry. It is rich, hearty, and certainly worth the time and effort it takes to make it.

Something a little milder that might appeal to you is the butter chicken curry. I do highly recommend it if you love a good curry.

That is all I have to say about this slow cooker beef madras curry recipe. If you have anything that you would like to add, please do not hesitate to leave a comment below.

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27 Comments

  1. Avatar for Lucy
    Lucy on

    This was really delicious and so tender! I put just a Tbsp of cumin and coriander and cumin as 1/4 cup seemed a lot. Would make again.

  2. Avatar for Andrew
    Andrew on

    In the tips you mention curry powder, but you don’t have it in the recipe. Please explain.

    1. Avatar for Gus
      Gus on
      Editor

      Oh dear, that was meant to say chili powder! Thanks for pointing it out. I have fixed it now.

  3. Avatar for Patrice
    Patrice on

    What kind of beef do you recommend?

    1. Avatar for Gus
      Gus on
      Editor

      A tough cut of beef such as chuck, round, brisket, or blade will work best.

  4. Avatar for Michael Gravely
    Michael Gravely on

    Can you use minced garlic instead of crushed garlic?

    1. Avatar for Gus
      Gus on
      Editor

      Yeah that will be fine.

  5. Avatar for Joanne
    Joanne on

    Hi does the smell of vinegar disappear while cooking beef madras that’s all I could smell when I put it in slow cooker.

    1. Avatar for Gus
      Gus on
      Editor

      Hi Joanne,

      From memory, it shouldn’t have a strong vinegar smell or flavor since we’re only using 1/4 cup (60ml/2 fl oz). Anyhow, the smell should go away, but you might want to double-check your measurements.

  6. Avatar for Jan Rosenbrock
    Jan Rosenbrock on

    1/4 cup of ground cumin and ground coriander sounds alot. Is this correct?

    1. Avatar for Gus
      Gus on
      Editor

      Yes, it’s correct and is delicious.

  7. Avatar for Joanne
    Joanne on

    Can you use chicken and replace stock with chicken stock.

    1. Avatar for Gus
      Gus on
      Editor

      Yeah that will work! Sounds delicious.

  8. Avatar for Kelly
    Kelly on

    Could you add potatoes to this recipe? If so when would I put them in? From the beginning? Thanks

    1. Avatar for Gus
      Gus on
      Editor

      Yes! Feel free to add potatoes. I would add them at the start, so they have time to cook properly.

  9. Avatar for Renae
    Renae on

    Can you cook on high for 4 hours instead of 8 on low

    1. Avatar for Gus
      Gus on
      Editor

      Yes, that will work fine.

  10. Avatar for Sarah Rose
    Sarah Rose on

    Really good flavours! Made a couple of tweeks: Used a kilo of fresh curry-cut Brahman bones instead of beef, and added a large red capsicum and 10 x birdseye chilli’s to the slow cooker and set the whole thing to ‘low’ for 16 hours and the result was epic. Spicy, full flavoured and delicious!

  11. Avatar for Chelsea Cole
    Chelsea Cole on

    Hi I have made this before and it was phenomenal, but felt like a chicken curry this time, could I do the exact same recipe but use chicken instead?

    1. Avatar for Gus
      Gus on
      Editor

      Hi Chelsea,

      I reckon that will work just fine! I recommend using chicken thigh for the best results as I find that it does not dry out as much as chicken breast.

  12. Avatar for Carl Ball
    Carl Ball on

    Hi how much Beef stock should I use, it says 1 cup beef stock, what is the fluid measurement for this please.

    Thank you really looking forward to making this Madras

    1. Avatar for Gus
      Gus on
      Editor

      Hi Carl,

      It’s 250ml or 8.5 fl oz.

  13. Avatar for Tony Di G
    Tony Di G on

    Hello, I made this dish for my parents when they were coming to visit. The aromas that filled the house were amazing. What was more amazing is that my father does not like eating beef, but actually went back for a second plate. Thankyou, this dish was absolutely wonderful, so tender and with great flavours.

  14. Avatar for Ags
    Ags on

    Hello, got the Curry in the cooker and looking forward to end result. Glad you reconfirmed the 1/4 cup coriander and cumin. Delicious aromas floating through the house.

  15. Avatar for Jasmine
    Jasmine on

    Made a veggie version for me.. and a turkey version for other half. Made mine “mild” and his “extra hot” only when serving I realized I got the spices mixed up. I think it would have been very nice if you could tolerate more than a tikka masala – unlike myself haha!

  16. Avatar for Susan
    Susan on

    Absolutely yummy. Full of flavour. I had to cook this in the oven though as my slow cooker had died. Luck was not on my side today as I couldn’t find fresh cumin either so I used 2 teaspoons of dried. Lovely with peshwari Naan.

  17. Avatar for Diane
    Diane on

    How would you reheat this and can you freeze it? Looks lovely.