Taro Beef Stew Recipe (Pressure Cooker, Works with Bread and Rice)

This taro beef stew recipe is good for two different meals without any extra cooking.

I made this for dinner with bread but kept the gravy a little thinner because I wanted to eat the leftovers with rice the next day, and it tasted delicious with both.

Cooking was simple too; the beef goes in first with the full spice paste and cooks until all the water is absorbed into the meat, and then I added Taro in with fresh water to make stew.

If you cook them together from the start, the Taro will be soft and fall apart before the beef is close to done.

That’s why I like the two-step method, and it’s also why this tastes like a proper stew instead of just spiced vegetables with beef floating in them.

Ingredients

Whole Spices (Go In Directly)

• 2 bay leaves
• 1 black cardamom
• 1 piece of cinnamon, around 2 to 3 inches
• Around 15 black peppercorns
• 7 to 8 cloves
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp salt

For the Spice Paste (Ground Together)

• 2 medium onions
• 4 tbsp coriander seeds
• 12 dried red chilies
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 small piece of ginger

For the Stew

• Bone-in beef pieces
• 500g taro, peeled and cut into pieces
• 80g oil
• 100ml water (for cooking the beef)
• 300ml water (for cooking the Taro)

To Finish

• Fresh coriander leaves

Wash the Beef and Get the Spices Together

Put the beef in water to soak as your first step, then gather all the spices on one plate.

By the time the plate is ready, the beef has sat long enough to wash properly.

I do it in this order every time because otherwise I have to stand and wait while the beef soaks.

I have split the spices here into two groups before: the onions, garlic, ginger, dried red chilies, and coriander seeds all get ground into a paste.

Other spices like bay leaves, black cardamom, cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves, turmeric, and salt stay whole and go directly into the cooker later.

Make the Spice Paste

Grind the onions, garlic, ginger, dried red chilies, and coriander seeds together into a paste.

I used a grinding stone, which gives a coarser, rougher texture that sticks to the beef differently than a blender does.

If you have a blender or wet grinder, they are fine too (but make sure it ends up as a real paste and not a dry, chunky mix, because the paste needs to coat the beef properly).

Pressure Cook the Beef First

Put the washed beef into the pressure cooker.

Add the spice paste over it, then add all the whole spices (bay leaves, black cardamom, cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves, turmeric, salt), along with 100ml of water and 80g of oil.

Mix everything so the beef is fully coated in the paste and the whole spices are distributed through the pot.

Close the lid and cook on medium flame until you get 4 whistles, which will take around 10 minutes.

After the pressure drops, open it and check.

You’ll want the water fully absorbed and the beef sitting in a thick, sticky spice coating.

If there’s still water left, put it back on the flame uncovered for a few extra minutes until it’s gone.

At this point, the beef should be around 80% cooked, and the spice should be absorbed deep into the meat.

Cut the Taro While the Beef Cooks

While the beef is in the pressure cooker, peel the Taro and cut it into medium-sized pieces.

Wash the pieces well after cutting because Taro has a slimy surface that needs to be rinsed off before cooking.

Let them sit in clean water until the beef is ready so they don’t discolor.

I used medium-sized pieces because they hold up better here than thin or small ones.

Taro absorbs flavor gradually and stays firm through the second round of pressure cooking.

Add the Taro and Finish the Stew

Once the beef has no water left in the pot, add the drained taro pieces into the same cooker.

Pour in 300ml of fresh water and stir so the Taro and beef mix together.

The water picks up the spice coating from the beef, and that’s how the gravy forms.

Close the lid and cook for 3 whistles, which takes around 11 minutes.

Once the pressure drops, open the cooker and check: the Taro should be fully soft when pressed with a spoon, the beef should be cooked through, and the gravy should have come together around both.

Now you can add fresh coriander on top; it’ll be ready to serve.

Serving This with Bread vs. Rice

For bread, I prefer a little thicker gravy because it doesn’t run off when you’re scooping.

For rice, a thinner gravy that pours and coats the rice properly is what you want.

I used 300ml of water in the taro step because I was primarily making this for rice, knowing the leftovers would go with bread the next day.

If you want it thicker for bread, drop the water in the taro step to around 200ml.

By the way, gravy also thickens as it sits anyway, so if it looks a little thin right out of the cooker, give it a few minutes before deciding to adjust.

You can eat it with sliced raw onion on the side; I personally like that.

Ingredient Swaps

No Bone-In Beef

Boneless beef works, but the gravy loses some of the depth that comes from the bone.

If you’re using boneless pieces, drop the first round to 3 whistles instead of 4, since boneless cooks faster.

Different Meat

You can use mutton or goat meat; they work exactly the same way and take the same amount of time.

But chicken doesn’t fit this method well because it cooks much faster than the two-round pressure cooker approach requires.

If you want to use chicken, I recommend you skip the first round, add everything together, including the taro, with 300ml water from the start, cook for 2 to 3 whistles, and check.

No Taro

You can use potato, since it’s the closest swap.

You’ll have to cut the pieces larger than I did with Taro because potato cooks faster, and drop the second round from 3 whistles to 2.

Less Spice

Drop the dried red chilies from 12 down to 6 or 7, and reduce the black peppercorns by half.

The coriander seeds and turmeric don’t contribute much heat, so you keep those as I mentioned.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Taro called in South Asian cooking?

Taro is called arvi or arbi in Hindi and Urdu, and it’s the same root vegetable that shows up across South Asian cooking in curries, fried dishes, and stews like this one.

Outside South Asia, it’s also labeled as taro root, eddo, or dasheen depending on the country, and any of those work the same way in this recipe.

Why does the beef need to cook before the Taro goes in?

Beef needs more time to cook than Taro. If you add both together from the start, the Taro will be fully soft and start to fall apart.

That’s why I say to cook the beef around 80%, with the spice fully absorbed.

Can I make this without a pressure cooker?

Yes, for the beef step, you can use a heavy-bottomed pot with a lid and cook on medium flame until the water is absorbed and the meat is tender; it’ll take around 30 to 40 minutes.

But you’ll want to check every 10 minutes and add a little water if it’s drying out before the beef is done.

Then add the Taro and 300ml water, cover, and cook on a low to medium flame for another 20 to 25 minutes until the Taro is fully soft.

How do I know when the Taro is properly cooked?

Press a piece against the side of the pot with a spoon; it should give all the way through without any resistance in the center.

If it’s still firm inside, close the lid and give it another 5 minutes on the flame.

Does Taro get mushy if it overcooks?

It does; beyond 3 to 4 whistles in the second round, the pieces start breaking down into the gravy.

That’s why stick to 3 whistles and check immediately after the pressure drops.

Can I freeze this stew?

The beef freezes well, but Taro changes texture when you freeze it and often comes out watery and crumbly after thawing.

If you want to freeze it, pull the taro pieces out before freezing and add fresh Taro when you reheat.

Besides this, you can cook the stew for a shorter time on the second round (2 whistles instead of 3) if you know it’s going to be frozen, so it has some room to finish cooking during reheating.