why it works
- Black mustard seeds help recreate the tangy flavor of mustard oil. (Mustard oil is a key ingredient in this dish, but it can be difficult to obtain an FDA-approved bottle.)
- Braising the meat in the oven rather than cooking it completely on the stove requires less effort and makes the meat more tender.
For those of us with ties to Chittagong, Bangladesh, kalabhna (a spicy beef stew made with mustard oil) is something of an ancestral calling. Every time it was on the dinner table in my childhood home in Chittagong, that was exactly what happened. That’s exactly what it means. This dish is often prepared in giant stewpots by babruki (cooks) and fed to thousands during the Chittagonia mezvan celebrations, held to commemorate the dead or celebrate the new. What’s left is often delivered to family and friends. The beef is dark, rich, and so tender that it looks like it’s falling apart, and just white rice, cucumber slices, red onion, and spicy green chili make it a perfect meal. My family ate it for days until my stomach said I couldn’t eat it anymore.
The cooking method practiced here is called bhuna. This is a Hindi and Bengali term that roughly translates as “to bake” or “to fry.” The traditional process involves coating the beef with a spice blend, mustard oil, and sliced onions, then frying and stirring over high heat to sear the meat and cook the onions and spices. Then the meat is simmered over low heat, stirring frequently and carefully monitoring, occasionally pouring hot water to prevent it from burning.
Most often, this dish relies on moisture and fat from the beef as the main liquid source. Over several hours, it transforms into a thick sauce that coats the meat. The result is the dish’s signature black-brown chunks of beef (‘kala’ means black in Bengali), tender and almost crumbly from hours of marinating in a deeply caramelized, onion-rich sauce, which gave the dish its name, ‘kala bhuna’.
While I have deep respect for this age-old technique, one drawback is that it requires constant stirring and scraping to ensure even cooking and to prevent the sauce from burning on the bottom of the pan. But these days, I don’t have the time or the strength to maintain that level of effort.
To reduce the amount of dirt on my elbows, my method relies on the oven. After first cooking on the stove to release the meat juices, the oven does the heavy lifting. By slowly simmering it for two hours, the beef retains its shape and becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender. The dish is finished on the stovetop, and this is where the bhuna technique comes into play, reducing the sauce to the rich, dark caramel-like consistency of carabuna.
Serious Eats / Qi Ai
mustard oil dilemma
Chittagos claim that there is no carabuna without mustard oil. With a high smoke point essential to the Beech technique, this oil adds a tangy, pungent edge to dishes that without it feels almost blasphemous. The problem is that most mustard oil brands sold in South Asian grocery stores in the United States are not cleared for consumption by the FDA. These bottles are labeled “for external use only” because pressed mustard oil is high in erucic acid, an element that animal studies in the 1950s suggested may contribute to heart disease.
However, millions of South Asians remain loyal to these mustard oil brands and continue to cook with them. Whether you should follow this or not is completely up to you. You can also choose the first and only one FDA approved Yandira mustard oil. If you want to omit the mustard oil, you can choose neutral canola oil instead. If you choose to go the canola oil route, we recommend adding 2 teaspoons of black mustard seeds to your spice blend. This will recreate the flavor of mustard oil. Although not the same as mustard oil, this certainly helps add that intense punch found in classic carabuna.
Serious Eats / Qi Ai
About spice blends
The spice blend includes cumin, coriander, green and black cardamom, and cloves, all staples of South Asian cooking. However, one of the ingredients included in all traditional kala bhuna preparations is radhni. Raduni is a wild celery seed with a sharper citrus, anisei, almost grassy quality. It is an important Bengali ingredient found in panch phoron (Bengali five spice) and used in many home-cooked dishes such as dal, achar, and fish preparations. Regular celery seeds aren’t as spicy as raduni, but they’re still effective. However, radhuni can be purchased from online specialty stores such as Kalustyans and most South Asian grocery stores.
Like many dishes, there are several variations on the carabuna recipe. Many of them use whole spices rather than spice blends, but like my mother, I prefer the latter. Because it helps create a thicker sauce. It’s quick to make and easy to store, whether you want it for one day or months ahead.
Serious Eats / Qi Ai
2025-10-22 12:00:00
