Fragrant Indonesian Beef Rendang by @coxys_kitchen
In the UK we love a good curry and this Fragrant Indonesian Beef Rendang delivers Southeast Asian flavours, filling your kitchen with warming spicy notes. This recipe combines coconut milk, beautiful spices and slow cooked beef, to create a delicious warming curry. This Fragrant Indonesian Beef Rendang is a grown up dish for sure and one that is best enjoyed with a cold glass of beer.
There are commonly two types of Rendang, Indonesian and Malaysian. The Malaysian variety, whilst still cooked with coconut milk, produced a dry curry, whereas the Indonesian version is ‘slightly’ wetter. Don’t be alarmed if there isn’t a lot of liquid left at the end of cooking; this is a good sign and means that the meat has taken on all the delicious flavours.
Recipe serves 6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 3 hours
Ingredients:
- 1.5kg beef braising steak, diced with excess fat and sinew removed
- 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 400ml coconut milk
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground fennel
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 4 red chillies, medium chopped
- 1 lemon grass stem, white part only
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp of palm sugar or soft brown sugar
Method:
- Place the onion and garlic in a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth paste – if necessary, add a little water to loosen the mix. If you don’t have a food processor, use a pestle and mortar instead
- Pour the coconut milk into a large pan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a medium heat and cook until the liquid has reduced by half and the oil has separated out. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and burn
- Add the ground cumin, coriander, fennel and cloves and stir into the coconut milk, then add the meat and cook for a couple of minutes until the meat changes colour. Add the onion/garlic paste, chilli, lemon grass stalk, lemon juice and sugar and cook on a low to medium heat for 2 ½ hours until the liquid has reduced and thickened. Check and stir regularly to prevent from sticking
- Continue to cook the curry for a further 30 minutes; the oil from the coconut milk should come up to the top, which helps the curry to develop its flavour and colour. This final stage requires constant attention to ensure that the curry doesn’t stick and burn
- To serve, top with chopped fresh chilli, a wedge of lime and a side of jasmine or basmati rice
Coxy’s Kitchen Tip:
To release more of the aromatic flavour, bruise the lemon grass with the back of a knife before adding to the curry.
