This is how to make our easy oxtail curry! We will first share How to cook oxtail to tender with Carribean seasoning and curry powder which can be made spicy or mild to your liking. Great served on a bed of rice or as is in a bowl like a stew.
If you love Jamaican flavors you are going to love these curry flavors. Kind of like our Instant Pot oxtail soup, a bit closer to the thickness of a stew with some fresh tomatoes and Caribbean seasonings. Let’s just say it is all the things in one bowl y’all.
If you are new to cooking this cut of beef there is a trick to it. In order to get the connective tissues to break down and your meat to fall off the bones and cartilage you do need to boil oxtails on the stove essentially. What I mean by this is submerging them into water or broth, boiling them to tenderize the protein is key.
You can’t be in a hurry to do this, you’ll need a few hours to get it just right. Keep that in mind when you cook Ox Tail period, no matter what you are going to do with them later. With that said, pulled off the bone and seasoned right it is pretty incredible. Adding that into a sauce or soup is even better if you ask me.
Do you have to brown oxtails before cooking?
You do want to brown them after you have added spices to the outside so they stick nicely and the outsides brown to keep the meat moist. This cut does have a strong flavor without any oxtail seasoning coated on. Below our mixture is curry focused and the ingredients for that is below.
You can call it soup or gravy. I guess that depends on how you want to serve it up. If it is going to be spooned over something like a bed of rice or with homemade naan then the meat would be more of the star. In a bowl with more of the liquid would be more of a soup.
Oxtail Curry Ingredients
I used about 4 large oxtails defrosted is best, but frozen works you’d just have to skip the sauteeing
- Olive oil used to brown in the first step
- Onion diced are a nice touch
- Minced garlic and ginger are wonderful
- Water or beef broth is the base of the liquid you boil them in
- Celery we love but optional
- Scotch bonnet peppers are popular, or finely diced jalapeno for spicy
- Ketchup is used to thicken the sauce and give it a deep flavor
- Curry powder
- 1 tbsp caribbean seasoning
What is a good substitute for curry powder?
If you don’t have this on hand from the recipe card you can combine the following 3 ingredients together; 1 tablespoon ground coriander + 1 tablespoon ground cumin + 1 tablespoon turmeric and use that instead.
You can easily adjust the heat to your liking. I love adding very finely diced roasted jalapeno but you could leave that out entirely really.
If you want to add some freshness to the dish you can dice up a fresh tomato and add that to the top. This is nice if you are serving this oxtail stew of sorts with naan or this is how to cook butter beans. 😉
Variations
If you wanted to make spicy, add red pepper flakes. If at the end you find it is too intense you can add coconut milk into the gravy to tone it down. That will add a bit of sweetness and is dairy free too.
If all of this sounds too time consuming but you still are craving it you can use the same ingredients but follow our pressure cooker style Instant Pot oxtail recipe timing. This really is a complete meal and I don’t think you need anything on the side, but others might disagree and need something more. Here are a few suggestions;
If you wanted to integrate a vegetable I would highly suggest our cauliflower curry you see right here. With some of the same flavors but on the veggie realm it surely will be a hit. If you want to make something cool to serve on the side I would make our Indian cabbage which is great warm or cool in the fridge and enjoy cold.
How to Prepare Oxtails Before Cooking
You will want to start off with your pieces thawed or fresh from the butcher. Many times you will have to buy them frozen but ideally they should be defrosted first before preparing them. Then you will want to trim just a bit of the fat from the outsides, only the main excess but leave some on. Rinse them and pat dry with paper towels so the spices will stick nicely.
Oxtail Curry Recipe
Equipment
- 1 dutch oven or large pot with a lid
Ingredients
- 4 large oxtails
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 tbsp minced garlic
- 3-4 cup water
- 1 cup celery
- 1 small pepper, optional for heat, leave whole
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp caribbean seasoning
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 small tomato
Instructions
- Trim fat from oxtails. Wash and pat dry. Cover oxtails with seasoning: salt, allspice, thyme, curry, caribbean seasoning and set aside. Chop onions and mince garlic if it isn't already.
- Heat oil on medium-high heat, add onions, garlic and oxtails. Turn oxtails as they cook to brown all sides. Add water, enough to cover the oxtails in the pot. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cover and boil for 2 hours.
- Chop celery and tomato, set aside. Mince ginger, set aside. Remove lid, and add celery, minced ginger, ketchup, and hot pepper (be careful not to break the pepper through the cooking process).
- Turn temp to medium-high heat and cook until liquid is a thick gravy, approximately 1-2 hours. **If you are pressed for time, you can thicken the gravy with cornstarch or flour. Remove hot pepper and oxtail first.
- Taste and add additional salt if needed. Discard hot pepper. Remove oxtail to cool slightly and tear meat off of the bone. To assemble: place curry gravy in a bowl, add meat, top with fresh tomatoes and cilantro.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What is the Difference Between Jamaican and Indian Curry?
I mean that flavor is kinda’ synonymous with both right? I don’t feel like you need to categorize them either way but in case you’re curious as to what the difference would be is that in Jamaica they use it in powder form. Indian uses more of a curry based sauce. SO I guess this would be a cross between the two like our curry fried chicken.
How to save leftovers
If you have leftovers it saves quite well. Wait until it cools completely first and then store in a sealed bowl in the fridge. To reheat pour into a pot on low-medium heat until bubbling and warm or in the microwave. The latter would take closer to 1.5 minutes or so stirring halfway thru.
