How to make Kalabhuna

A native dish of Chattogram, the Kalabhuna (also Kala Bhuna) rose to spectacular prominence in the past decade. It gained such popularity in the contemporary food culture that international food chains in Bangladesh began to incorporate the signature dark meat into their menus, resulting in puzzling creations like kalabhuna pizzas. 

Here is a recipe of the famous dish that adheres, mostly, to the traditional preparation.

Ingredients:

3 kilos of beef
2 cups of sliced onion
1 tablespoon of ginger paste (if paste is diluted then use 1.5 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon of garlic paste (if paste is diluted then use 1.5 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon  of chilli powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
6 cardamoms 
8 cloves
2 bay leaves
2 sticks of cinnamon (medium sized or small)
8 to ten black peppercorns 
1 teaspoon of salt
4 tablespoons of mustard oil
3 or 4 dried red chilis

Method: 

Wash and drain the meat of excess water. Once properly drained, add all the ingredients and marinate for about an hour. Then put the marinated meat on the stove on medium-high heat. 

Do not cover the meat as it will release a lot of water and will not absorb all of the flavour.

Keep stirring the meat every 3 to 4 minutes, for about ten to fifteen minutes, or until the oil separates from the marinade. Once satisfied that the oil has separated, cover and cook on medium heat for thirty minutes. 

Once the meat is tender and still has gravy, check to make sure that it is not too salty because towards the end of the process, the meat tends to absorb the gravy and becomes saltier.

At this point, make sure that the meat has cooked through and is tender. If you start the kalabhuna, or darkening process, before the meat is tender, then you'll get little hard nubs of dried up meat that aren't very nice. 

Now open the cover and cook slowly on medium heat for 4 to 5 hours until the meat turns dark. To ensure that the meat doesn't get too dry, keep it on medium or low heat and stir occasionally.

As the meat turns darker, make sure that the heat is low so that it doesn't dry up or get burnt.

You can either cook this in one day or over a couple of days, cooking on the stove for about an hour or two each time. If you decide to cook it in a day, it is done cooking in 3 to 4 hours, but it's best to keep it on for 5 hours. It is also best to sometimes give rest periods in between cooking, in order to allow the meat to cool down a bit. 

Optional: For the last hour or two of the cooking process, you can add a few cloves of garlic to roast with the meat for garnish and flavour purposes.