Beef rendang

(Serves 6)

1 kilo beef
1 onion
2 cm ginger
1 clove garlic
1 cm fresh turmeric
10 red chillies
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground fennel
2 stalks of lemon grass
1 galangal
2 cups coconut milk
1 cup of desiccated coconut
2 kafir lime leaves
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon tamarind paste.
Salt and pepper to tasteSugar to taste

1. Cut beef into small cubes.
2. Peel the ginger, garlic, fresh turmeric and onion.
3. Cut the red chillies into two and remove the seeds.
4. Crush the lemongrass and galangal.
5. Grind the ginger, garlic, fresh turmeric, onion and red chillies into a smooth paste.
6. Add hot water to the tamarind paste.
7. Heat the cooking oil in a pot. Add the ground paste, lemongrass and galangal, ground coriander, fennel and cumin. Stir continuously until fragrant.
8. Add the beef, kafir leaves, salt, pepper and coconut milk into the pot. Cook over medium heat until the coconut milk boils.
9. Add in the tamarind liquid; be careful to squeeze and remove the seeds and use only the pulp. Add the sugar.
10. Cook over slow to medium heat for approximately 45 minutes. Stir continuously.
11. When the liquid has half evaporated; add in the desiccated coconut. Continue cooking over slow heat until the sauce until the sauce becomes very thick.
12. Serve hot.


Personal Tips
This dish should be cooked over slow heat. I usually leave it on the stove for 2 hours.The desiccated coconut is optional.
If you cannot find kafir lime leaves or galangal, you can try using green lime zest instead. You can also subsititure the fresh turmeric with one teaspoon of ground turmeric and the red chillies with 2 teaspoons of sambal oelek. Again here, the quantity of chillies depends on how well you can tolerate them! For my French guests, I use hardly any, just a small pinch for a slight tang!