Goan Beef Roast Recipe – Assado de Carne

Assado de carne or Beef Roast is a very popular everyday dish in Goa. In Portuguese assado is roast, carne is beef and vaca is cow. As kids we often took roast beef sandwiches to school. It was thin slices of beef with bread and butter. In Goa butter is a more popular spread, as mayo goes bad since the weather is very hot and proper food safety are not very well practised. Each family in Goa has their own variations in making assado/roast but mostly will included vinegar, ginger, garlic, cloves, cinnamon, green chilli and black-pepper.

My mum usually marinates the meat for a couple of days with the ground paste and then slowly braises the meat in a pot even though it is called a roast (not every household in Goa has an oven). The meat would be cooked for an hour or more depending on the size of the roast. She also uses the same recipe for pig roast.  If you have access to a pressure cooker then you can cut short the time by cooking it for 7-9 whistles.  If there was leftover roast them my mom would make beef chilli fry, almondegaes (shallow fried ground beef pattie), beef chops or croquettes (click on each highlighted words to check the recipe). The Goan roast beef has a nice thick gravy that is then poured over the sliced beef. For parties you can sever sliced beef with some french fries or roasted potatoes for decorations. On my last trip to Goa I was surprised to see these sandwich being sold at the cafes as most everyone makes them at home.

Serving Size: 8-10

Ingredients:

3 lbs of beef

1″ ginger

1.5 bulb of garlic cleaned

1 green chilli  (i deveined mine)

1-2 sticks of cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 tbsp of vinegar

1/2 tsp of sugar

salt to taste

1 medium onion chopped

4 cloves of garlic chopped

1/2″ chopped ginger

Directions:

Grind all the dry ingredients along with vinegar to a smooth paste. Apply to the meat and let marinate for 1-2 days in the refrigerator.

In a heated pot saute the chopped onion, garlic and ginger. Till soft and fragrant.

Next add the marinated beef and cook on each side for 1.5 hour on a medium heat by rotating each side after 10 minutes and checking on the seasoning. If required add 1/2 cup of water halfway through and keep cooking the meat. Till soft and fully cooked.

Slice and serve with some roasted potatoes or fries.