Pakistani Beef Roast With {Tandoori} Masala

This Pakistani Beef Roast With {Tandoori} Masala is a delicious recipe to serve as a main course on special occasions. Boneless beef roast is marinated in a delicious mixture of flavorful spices, combined with ginger garlic paste and some yogurt.

This tender roast beef, topped with a gravy made of the tandoori masala marinade is one of my family’s favorite recipes. A wonderful dish with exceptional flavor, it’s often requested as birthday dinner by my kids!

The Tandoori Roast Beef Masala Recipe

Most Pakistanis generally tend to eat either a roasted-leg-of-goat-raan or Hunter Beef as opposed to Roast beef. As such it’s not a Pakistani Common meat dish. I’ve yet to make it for someone who hasn’t fallen in love with it, it’s usually one of the most popular recipes in my house when I entertain.

The ingredients are very simple and the marinade comes together within minutes. In fact, I often buy the meat, marinate it and pop it in the freezer for when I need to cook it.

The Meat

The original recipe, as made by my mother, was with tenderloin, which is referred to as undercut in Pakistan. Since this is an expensive cut of meat and I make this recipe more often I’ve resorted to using cheaper cuts of meat.

My favorite is Chuck Roast and it’s what I’ve used in this recipe. This cut comes from the front portion of the animal and is great for roasts. It’s a lean cut with a lot of flavor and when slow cooked, it becomes fork tender.

Incase you can’t find chuck roast some other affordable choices are:

• Bottom Round Rump Roast
• Top Round Roast
• Eye of Round Roast
• Bottom Round Roast

The Pakistani Beef Roast With {Tandoori} Masala Ingredients

To quote Delish.com, a roast beef is a big cut of meat and you can’t go wrong with seasoning it generously! Keeping this in mind the Tandoori Masala is the perfect for this recipe! Once you try it, you’ll be hooked!

I make my own simple Tandoori Masala blend for this recipe. Nothing complicated, just a blend of powdered spices that are usually pantry staples in a Pakistani household.

If you don’t cook Pakistani food regularly, don’t worry, most of the spices needed can be sourced at a local supermarket. What you can’t find locally can be purchased online at amazon, thespicehouse, curiospice and the savoryspiceshop, to name some of my favorites.

Ginger, Garlic, Green Chilies and Yogurt provide a thick base for the dry powdered spices. The result is a paste that stick to the meat really well and helps tenderize the meat. As the roast cooks, the marinade thickens naturally to become a delicious gravy. 

Tip: If you’re in a real rush just add a store bought Tandoori Spice Blend to the rest of the ingredients rather than assembling all of the individual spices!

The Marinade

My marinade is simple and doesn’t require any whole spice or complex ingredients like black cardamom or green cardamoms that need to be ground and blended. The garam masala powder contains all of these and is available in most grocery stores nowadays.

Similarly, instead of lemon juice or a cup of vinegar, I use amchoor powder to give a slight citric flavor to the spice blend. This makes the marinade thicker and it sticks better to the meat. This too is often available in grocery stores or online. If for some reason you can’t source it, some substitutes you can use are:

• Pomegranate powder
• Loomi (Persian dried Lemon powder)
• Chaat Masala
• Tajin

Since we’re aiming for a tandoori flavor, my recipe uses red chili powder and Kashmiri chili powder rather than the more conventional black pepper or pepper flakes.  

The last and in many ways most important ingredient is the salt. The rule for this is one teaspoon salt per pound of meat.

Generally speaking, since you’re cooking such a large cut of meat, it does well with bold seasoning. This is why this Tandoori seasoning makes this a great recipe!

Combine yogurt with all the ingredients in a medium bowl, poke some holes in the meat with a knife and rub generously all over the beef and place meat in an airtight container. Marinate the roast overnight so the seasoning can really flavor the meat.

The Cooking Technique

I use a traditional Pakistani Method for cooking my Pot Roast called “Dum” rather than in an oven. I personally like this method as it allows me more control over the cooking process. You’re welcome to use the oven if you prefer.

Since I use a single pot to cook my roast, I sear the meat and slow cook it all in one pot. If you’re cooking it in the oven, then take a large heavy skillet or large pan and sear the roast well on all sides before cooking in the oven.

After Searing the meat to seal in the juices add enough water to cover the meat halfway. This will probably be 4-6 cups of water depending on the size of your cooking pot or roasting pan.

Stove Top Method (recommended)

After searing the beef, turn the stove on to medium high heat and cover your pot. Once you see steam coming out of the pot, reduce to low heat. Cook for the number of hours recommended, checking intermittently and adjusting the heat as necessary.

 I usually check the meat to see if a knife goes in easily. At that point, I uncover the pot and adjust the heat to a medium flame and let the water evaporate. The meat cooks further and the long hours of cooking make it fork tender.

If it seems that the liquid is thickening and the meat is sticking to the pot, gently remove it and continue cooking down the liquid till the gravy thickens to a thick curry like consistency.

Oven Method

I like to sear my roast on the stovetop first and then place it in a roasting pan with the remaining marinade and a cup of water. Seal it tightly with foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 325 degrees farenheit for an hour per pound.

Check for doneness using a thermometer. I like my roast medium well for this recipe, which means you should get a temperature reading of 150 degrees fahrenheit. As always, my favorite thermometer is the thermapen-one by thermoworks.

Once the meat is done, set it aside, keeping it covered, and pour the juices in the pot you used to sear the meat. Cook the liquid on medium heat till it reduces to a thick gravy. This should take 20-30 minutes.

I do not recommend a pressure cooker or Instant Pot for this recipe. A good Beef Roast needs to be Seared and then slow cooked for best results. Ideal cooking time is about 1 hour per pound of meat. For the average size roast this is 3-4 hours of cooking time.

Serving The Pakistani Beef Roast With {Tandoori} Masala

The meat needs to rest for 20-30 minutes before being carved. This allows the juices to settle and not flow out as you cut the meat. The meat tastes much juicier this way.

I like to serve my beef roast with oven roasted potatoes and a side of my air-fryer-french-beans. I usually have some crusty French bread to mop up the delicious gravy. If you prefer, you can add some lemon wedges for presentation and serve it with traditional Pakistani flat bread instead of crusty bread.

If you're not a fan of green beans, try this pear salad, black bean and mango salsa or grilled peach and blueberry salad.

This is a great recipe to have on hand when you want some spicy food but not a traditional meat curry. With the holiday season fast approaching you may want to try this recipe for your next family gathering!

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