This is a mild beef curry from the Far East, flavoured with coconut milk and lemongrass.
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
- 1/2 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
Method
- 1. 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.
- 2. 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.
- 3. 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.
- 4. Lower the heat to a simmer, add the tamarind liquid or lemon juice and muscovado sugar and leave to cook uncovered for 21/2 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.