This dish needs a skillet or pot with a lid large enough to hold all of the ingredients.
Preheat a skillet with a few tablespoons of olive oil to medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for three minutes to soften and brown slightly, stirring as you go.
Add the garlic and tomato paste and stir for one minute.
Add the beef and the curry powder(s) and stir for five minutes, letting the meat brown and get coated in the spices. If the mixture seems dry, drizzle in some more oil.
Pour one cup of water into the skillet and stir to form a curry sauce. Cover the curry with the lid and let cook for 15 minutes, then remove the lid, stir the curry, and add more water if it seems dry, about a half cup at a time.
After about an hour, taste the curry sauce and add salt to your preference; at least a teaspoon at this point. Add the potatoes and a cup more water, stir to combine.
Repeat the process once the potatoes are in the curry. Stir, taste, add salt + water to maintain a consistent curry sauce. After about two hours TOTAL, the meat should be very tender and the potatoes cooked through.
When the meat is fork tender, adjust the sauce consistency with water one more time, and add a few more sprinkles of salt if needed.
Serve over rice or with naan for dipping. Enjoy!