Curry Beef Stew

There is a Chinese restaurant in NYC Chinatown that serve this amazing curry beef stew and from time to time the craving for it drives me to trek all the way there just to get this dish.  When I was recently asked why do I not make it myself, I automatically went online to look up a recipe.  I already make great beef stew so how hard can this be?  

Ingredients

• 1 pound stew beef
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 2 small potatoes, diced
• 11/2 tablespoon flour
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoon Indian curry powder
• 1teaspoon cumin
• 3 tablespoon coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions 

1. Season the beef with salt and pepper.
2. Put flour in a plastic bag then add the beef and twist the top.  Toss the beef with flour to evenly coat.
3. Brown meat in batches over medium high heat. Add all the meat and its juices back into the pot.
4. Add curry powder and cumin, saute for about a minute.
5. Add water, stock and coconut milk to meat. Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen the bits.
6. Stew for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
7. Add the celery, potatoes, and carrots.  Cook for another 45 minutes or until the meat is tender.

I love to serve this with Jasmine rice.

Hint:  I never am able to use up the whole can of coconut milk so whatever I do not use, I freeze.  This way you are not wasting what you do not use and it is always on hand if it's in the freezer! If you freeze it in an ice tray and then pop it out to store in a freezer bag or container, it will melt faster and you do not need to melt the whole thing to get a portion of it.  You can do the same with left over chicken stock.