Shredded beef fry, a Sri Lankan beef sambol always made for loved ones near and far.

The beef sambol is popular among Sri Lankans as a rice puller.

Made with finely shredded fried beef, mixed with an equal amount of fried onions, you won’t be able to resist this beef fry sambol.

How to use the Sri Lankan shredded beef fry sambol.

• Make some beef sandwiches that are ideal for school lunch boxes, work or long drives.

• A few spoons to sprinkle over your rice.

• Serve with stovetop naan, garlic bread, poori or paratha with some dhal or potato curry and a few spoons of this beef fry sambol for a quick dinner.
• Ideal to take or pack for your college-going students overseas. make sure to wrap it up well.
• My kids love to have a midnight snack, so having a bottle of this shredded beef in the fridge makes it easy for them.
• To serve as bites, simply mix the shredded beef fry with some of your favourite nuts(peanuts, cashews etc). serve with some pita chips.

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Tips to make the shredded beef sambol.

• The beef fry sambol takes time to make. I would advise you NOT to make it while going about your usual home chores(daily cooking etc).
• Instead, I would recommend freeing up a single day to make this beef sambol as there are a few steps that lead to making the beef fry.

• Boiling the beef.
  • You can boil the beef a day early(maybe at night).
  • leave it to cool, refrigerate and proceed to make the shredded beef fry the next day.
  • If you are making this beef sambol for the first time, please avoid doubling the recipe and make it as per the quantity given below.
  • Once you know the workflow, and mistakes to look out for, then proceed to double or triple the recipe.

• Boiling the beef can be done in two ways.

1. Boil in a regular pan with water and spices -time-consuming but if you don’t have a pressure cooker, this is the way to do it.
2. Using a pressure cooker.

• Place beef in the pan, and add 1 and 1/2 cups of water or just enough to cover half of the beef.
• Add the recommended spices and pressure cook for 20-30 minutes.
• Should the beef need to be boiled more, pressure cook for another 10 minutes.
• Leave to rest for 10 minutes, release the pressure cap and follow instructions as per the recipe.

• This is the first stage of letting the beef absorb flavours, make sure to add tamarind, salt and cumin so that you really taste it.

• Shredding the beef to make the beef fry sambol.

There are two ways for this.

1. you can shred the beef manually, time consuming but gives you the best results. if you are making this beef sambol for the first time. do it by hand.
   I get bored easily doing stuff like this, it helps to have your favourite t.v programme on just to get rid of the monotony of it.
2. Shred the beef using a food processor.
   1. should you have a large quantity of beef to shred simply use your food processor to shred the beef.

In order to get the correct consistency from your food processor, start with a small portion and then continue to shred beef.

USE THE PULSE MODE AND NOT MORE THAN 4-5 PULSES.

You need to be careful not to overdo it and turn the beef into a powdered texture.

Any remaining larger pieces can be shredded by hand.

• Frying the shredded beef.
  • Use a large frying pan.
  • This is the step where you’ll need a lot of patience and maybe a chair to give your feet a rest from hovering over the stovetop.
  • Maintain a low medium heat, and avoid increasing heat at any point of frying the beef.
  • Do not allow the oil to reach a smoking point.
  • If the oil does reach a smoking point, immediately remove the pan from the stove, and switch off the stove.
  • let the oil cool for 5-10 minutes and begin again.
  • Fry the shredded beef until light golden brown and just turning into a darker shade. if you fry too long some shredded beef pieces do tend to become tough.
  • Sometimes, this is unavoidable but try to avoid this when possible.

• Frying the onions, and curry leaves.
  • Follow the same instructions as given above.
  • Fry the sliced onions and curry leave separately.
  • Avoid burning the onions, remove them as they are turning golden and crispy.

• Drain as much oil as possible while removing them from the frying pan and transfer onto a well-layered plate of paper kitchen towels to absorb oil.

• Make sure to remove as much oil as possible, this would improve the shelf life of the beef sambol.

Utensils and appliances needed.

Large deep pan or pressure cooker to boil the beef.

Food processor to shred the beef(optional).

Large to a medium-sized frying pan to fry the shredded beef.

2 plates covered in paper kitchen towels to absorb oil from the fried ingredients.

More beef fry recipes.

• beef fry(Sri Lankan)

• Beef and green beans stir-fry.

• Thai beef salad

Store-once cool, store in a dry bottle. always use a dry spoon.

Shelf life- store in a refrigerator and use within 3 weeks. the beef fry has a shelf life of almost 2 months or longer if stored properly.

RECIPE DIFFICULTY- LITTLE CARE NEEDED

How to make Sri Lankan beef sambol

The ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.

Ingredients to make shredded beef sambol

500g of a beef(chuck roast, rump roast, Brisket)

1 and 1/2 tablespoons of pepper powder

1 and 1/2 tablespoons of cumin powder

Salt to season

1 and 1/2 tablespoons of tamarind paste

1 and 1/2 cups of oil(vegetable, coconut or sunflower oil)

250g of onions or 4 large onions sliced thin

3 sprigs of curry leaves(optional)

1 tablespoon of red chilli flakes

1/4 cup of lime or lemon juice(use as needed)

Method

Place beef in a deep pan and add water to submerge the beef parts.

Add pepper powder, cumin, tamarind paste, and salt to season.

Taste the water. the tamarind and salt taste should come through.

Refer to the notes under tips for ways to boil the beef.

I’m boiling the beef using a stovetop over medium heat.

Over a stovetop, this would take about 45-1 hour to soften the beef.

Once boiled and tender, remove the beef and let it cool.

Any leftover beef broth water can be strained and used to cook rice.

Once the beef chunk is cool enough, shred the beef into smaller thread pieces.

Refer to tips for more tips on using the food processor for a quicker way to do this.

How to deep fry the shredded beef.

Place a deep frying pan over low medium heat and pour in the oil.

Let the oil heat for 3-5 minutes.

Once the oil is warm enough, gently add the shredded beef.

Make sure to keep the stove at a low steady temperature.

As the shredded beef is frying over low heat, use a slotted spoon to move the beef around.

Fry until beef turns light golden brown and crispy.

Immediately remove from oil using a slotted spoon.

Move the spoon up and down to drain the oil as much as possible.

Transfer to a kitchen paper towel to remove excess oil.

The remaining heat will continue to fry the beef once you take it out.

Remove all the shredded beef from the oil this way.

Shut off the fire and let the oil cool a little before you start frying the onions.

Maintain low heat to fry the onions until they turn crispy and lightly golden.

Avoid the onions turning too dark and bitter.

Drain oil as much as possible and then transfer the onions onto kitchen paper towels to drain excess oil.

Do the same with the curry leaves until crispy.

If you do not have curry leaves skip this part.

Assembling the beef sambol.

Once you have all the fried elements done.

Place a separate pan over low heat, and transfer the fried shredded beef, onions, curry leaves into the pan.

Maintain low heat, and combine all the ingredients together.

Add the red chilli flakes. combine.

Add teaspoons of the lime juice and while tasting make sure you get the taste of the salt and tartness of the beef.

This tasting and adjusting the lime and salt is important.

once you reach the correct balance, remove it from the fire.

let the beef sambol cool.

Once cool, transfer the beef fry into a bowl and refrigerate.

When using the beef make sure to always use a dry spoon.

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