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Indonesian beef rendang

Name: Indonesian beef rendang
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Indian recipes
Ingredients: 2 lemongrass stalks; 2 large red chillies, deseeded and chopped; 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped; 5cm piece of ginger, roughly chopped; 1 large onion, roughly chopped; ½ tsp ground ginger; 1 tbsp ground coriander; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 2 tbsp sunflower oil; 2 cinnamon sticks; 12 cloves; 2 bay leaves; 600ml canned coconut milk; 1.5kg braising steak, such as chuck or blade, cut into 5cm pieces; 1 tsp salt; Walnut-sized piece of tamarind pulp or 2 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tbsp Billington’s Dark Muscovado Sugar

Published: 30 Sep 05
Updated: 18 Mar 24

This is a mild beef curry recipe from the Far East, flavoured with coconut milk and lemongrass.

Medium
October 2005

Test kitchen approved

Serves 6
Ready in 3 hours

This is a mild beef curry recipe from the Far East, flavoured with coconut milk and lemongrass.

Dairy-free recipes

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Ingredients

2 lemongrass stalks
2 large red chillies, deseeded and chopped
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
5cm piece of ginger, roughly chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 cinnamon sticks
12 cloves
2 bay leaves
600ml canned coconut milk
1.5kg braising steak, such as chuck or blade, cut into 5cm pieces
1 tsp salt
Walnut-sized piece of tamarind pulp or 2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Billington’s Dark Muscovado Sugar

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Method

Remove the outer leaves from the lemongrass stalks and reserve. Roughly chop the tender core and put into a food processor with the chillies, garlic, fresh ginger, onion, ground ginger, coriander, cumin, black pepper and 2 tablespoons of water. Blend to a smooth paste.
Heat the sunflower oil in a large flameproof casserole over a medium heat. Add the cinnamon sticks and cloves and allow them to sizzle for about 1 minute. Add the spice paste and bay leaves and fry gently for 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk, 200ml water, the beef, reserved lemongrass leaves and the salt and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, if you are using the tamarind pulp, put in a small bowl with 120ml of warm water and work through with your fingers to release the seeds. Strain the syrupy mixture into a clean bowl and discard the seeds.

Lower the heat to a simmer, add the tamarind liquid or lemon juice and muscovado sugar and leave to cook uncovered for 2½ hours, stirring more frequently as the liquid reduces, until the sauce is well reduced and quite thick and the beef is very tender. Serve with plain rice and a cucumber, tomato, red onion and coriander salsa.