Shamdey

Shamdey is a Tibetan meat and potato curry, built from a remarkably short ingredient list and a technique that gives each of those ingredients a specific job. The meat is browned in fat, simmered slowly until tender, then potatoes are cooked directly in the resulting broth until the whole thing becomes somewhere between a curry and a stew.

One particularly interesting detail is the fennel. Rather than frying it with the other spices, the seeds go in towards the end with the potatoes, preserving their fresher, sweeter aroma. The fried onion gets its own slightly unusual treatment too: it is removed from the pan, finely minced, then returned to become part of the gravy.

Shamdey is also associated with Palden Lhamo festivities, when it is traditionally eaten together with family in the evening.

Ingredients

• 500 g beef or lamb, cut into medium chunks

• 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into medium cubes

• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced

• ½ inch ginger, minced

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 3 g cumin powder

• 2 g turmeric powder

• 3 g fennel seeds

• 3 tbsp beef tallow or neutral oil

• 3–4 tbsp finely chopped chives

• 750 ml hot water, plus more as needed

• Salt, to taste

Method

Prepare the turmeric
Mix the turmeric powder with a few tablespoons of water to make a thin paste. Set aside.

Fry the onion
Heat the beef tallow or oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and fry until evenly golden brown.
Remove the onion from the pot and set aside, leaving the fat behind.

Brown the beef
Add the turmeric paste to the hot fat and fry briefly, just until fragrant.
Add the beef and fry over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the pieces are well browned.
Add the minced ginger and garlic and fry until aromatic. Sprinkle in the cumin powder and cook briefly, stirring so it coats the meat.

Make the broth
Pour in 750 ml hot water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer gently until the beef is tender. Depending on the cut, this should take roughly 1½–2 hours.
While the beef cooks, transfer the fried onion to a chopping board and mince it very finely.

Add the potatoes
Once the beef is tender, the liquid will have reduced considerably. Add enough hot water to accommodate the potatoes while still leaving a generous amount of soupy gravy.
Add the potatoes, fennel seeds and salt to taste. The fennel is deliberately added at this late stage rather than fried with the other spices, helping retain its fresher aroma.
Cover and simmer until the potatoes are completely tender, around 15–20 minutes.

Finish with the fried onion
Once the potatoes are cooked, check the consistency and add a little hot water if necessary. Shamdey should remain fairly soupy rather than reducing into a thick gravy.
Add the finely minced fried onion and stir it through the curry. Cook only briefly, then switch off the heat.
Finish generously with the chopped chives and serve hot.