Satkara is a well-known citrus fruit of Sylhet, especially popular for its sour taste and aroma. It is an important ingredient in the region's traditional cooking and has been part of local food culture for generations.

Fish, meat and many other traditional dishes are made with satkara, but the most popular of them is beef cooked with satkara. The sourness of satkara blends with the meat to create a distinctive flavour that is hard to find in any other dish, and its fragrance makes the food even more tempting. Once tasted, it is not easily forgotten.

First wash the beef well and drain off the water. Then clean and wash one satkara and cut it into small pieces.

Put the meat in a karai and add, one by one, chopped onion, onion paste, garlic and ginger paste, all the ground spices, bay leaves, cinnamon and cloves, oil and salt. Mix everything together well and braise slowly over a medium flame, so the spices blend into the meat and a pleasant aroma rises.

After braising for a while, remove the lid and stir every five or six minutes, then keep braising. When the meat is half cooked, add the pieces of satkara. Add water as needed, cover and let it simmer on a low flame so the sourness of the satkara blends well with the meat.

When the meat is tender, sprinkle over garam masala powder and cook for a few more minutes. Take it off the heat and serve with rice.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.