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    Home » Features

    Beef Rendang

    Published: Feb 17, 2014 · Modified: Mar 21, 2017 by Ashley

    This post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

    Curry isn't always pretty, but it can pack in flavor like few other dishes on Earth! We chose this curry for our Supper Club dinner. The theme was "Ingredient Grab Bag", and Dino picked galangal.

    This dish uses a good amount of galangal along with lots of other exotic aromatics in a paste that coats the beef and cooks away on the stovetop for a few hours until you're left with an incredibly thick and flavorful curry.

    Beef Rendang

    It takes quite a bit of work at the beginning to get everything prepped, but once it's all in the pot, you just stir occasionally.

    I really like the addition of toasted coconut flakes on top. This dish wowed our Supper Club. It was unlike any dish we had ever tried before. I highly recommend giving this one a shot!

    Beef Rendang
    BBC Food

    A rich South-East Asian curry made with coconut milk and melting tender beef. Serve with jasmine rice and steamed greens.

    Less than 30 mins preparation time
    Over 2 hours cooking time
    Serves 6

    2 lemongrass stalks, dry outer leaves removed, roughly chopped
    3 medium-sized red onions, quartered
    6 garlic cloves, peeled
    25g/1oz fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
    75g/2½oz chunk galangal, peeled and roughly chopped
    3 plump red chillies, roughly chopped without deseeding
    3 tablespoon sunflower oil
    2 teaspoon ground cumin
    1 tablespoon ground coriander
    1 teaspoon ground turmeric
    1.5kg/3lb 5oz beef chuck steak (or any good braising beef), trimmed and cut into 3cm/1¼in cubes
    400ml/14fl oz can coconut milk
    4 fresh kaffir lime leaves
    1 cinnamon stick
    1 tablespoon soft light brown sugar or palm sugar
    2 teaspoon tamarind paste or freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime
    2 tablespoon dark soy sauce*
    2 teaspoon flaked sea salt, plus extra to season
    ground black pepper
    toasted coconut flakes, to serve (optional)

    In a food processor combine the lemongrass, onions, garlic, ginger, galangal and chillies. Blend to a fine paste (you may need to remove the lid and push the mixture down a couple of times with spatula until the right consistency is reached).

    Heat the sunflower oil in a large flame-proof casserole and fry the paste gently for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the cumin, coriander and turmeric and cook for two minutes.

    Add the beef to the pan and stir to coat in the paste and spices. Cook for five minutes, stirring constantly until the meat is very lightly coloured all over. Pour the coconut milk and 400ml/14fl oz cold water into the casserole. Add the lime leaves, cinnamon stick, sugar, tamarind paste or lime juice, soy sauce and salt and bring to a simmer.

    Reduce the heat and leave to gently simmer uncovered for about 2½-3 hours, or until the meat is meltingly tender and the sauce is very thick, glossy and rich. Stir the beef occasionally towards the beginning of the cooking time then more often as the coconut milk reduces. You don’t want the sauce to stick. Season to taste with more salt and freshly ground black pepper.

    Spoon the curry into warm serving dishes, pick out the kaffir lime leaves and cinnamon stick, and sprinkle with the toasted coconut, if using.

    *Optional: use Gluten Free

    Big Flavors Rating: 5 Stars

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl

      February 17, 2014 at 7:37 pm

      This looks great and has to smell lovely with that ginger!

      Reply

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