Tshoem, which means simply "curry" in Bhutanese, is a wonderful hearty dish for a cold night. Like other Bhutanese dishes, it uses a minimum of ingredients and takes a short time to prepare - though you need to have it simmer for well over an hour, but its butter base makes it heartier (and much less healthy!) and much more delicious. It's probably better served as one of several dishes, as it may be too heavy to eat in its own.

I followed the original recipe quite closely, but I think it could do with less salt. I'd start with ½ a teaspoon rather than 1 teaspoon called for below and adjust the salt as needed. This recipe will serve 2 as an only dish, and 4 as part of a larger meal.

I served it with Bhutanese red rice which was a little bit nuttier than white rice, though not distinctive enough in taste to justify buying it here.

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Tshoem

Ingredients

• 8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 lb boneless beef chuck, cubed
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 jalapeno chilies, seeded and julienned
• 1 1/3 cup fresh oyster mushrooms, cut into bite-size pieces
• 3/4 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• a dash of black pepper

Instructions

Melt the butter and add the onion, beef and water. Stir, bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered in low heat until the beef is cooked and tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Add the chilies, mushrooms, ginger and pepper and cook for ten more minutes. Serve with rice.

Adapted from a recipe at AsiaRecipe.com