Beef Rendang

It took a long time before the lazy cook became friends with curries.  Living in Malaysia, we eat curry every day and don't have to cook them, there are warungs (hawker joints) everywhere and I own a few restaurants and have the luxury of telling my chefs what my urge for the day was.  Unfortunately, good days has gotta come to an end.  After so many failures, there are bound to be success, I believe!  So here is my take on Beef Rendang

Ingredients :
1 kg beef ( here in France, we buy it ready cubed)
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
3 cloves
1 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp tamarind pulp
10 kaffir lime leaves, julienne
5 tbsp kerisik
1 tsp brown sugar
salt to taste

Rempah (Spice Paste)
2 medium size onions
2 shallots
3 cloves garlic
a dash of lemon grass powder
1 tbsp baba brand meat chilli powder

My blender broke down, so this time instead of making the spice paste into puree, I julienne the onions and shallots and use garlic paste that I bought.
In a pot, over medium heat, add 2 tbsp oil, then add 1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise and 3 cloves for about a minute.  Then instead of adding the rempah, I add the onions, shallots, garlic, a dash of lemon grass powder and baba brand meat chilli powder, I wanted my curry to be more spicy, so I add a tsp of super duppa hot chilli powder.  If you can find lemon grass, then add 1 stalk into the paste. I cook a lot of curry for my French customers, and cannot cook them too hot, this one is specially for me so havta be super duppa hot! If it is a bit dry add a bit more oil, cook for about 5 minutes then add the beef cubes.  Stir for about 5 minutes then add the coconut milk, stir for a minute, then add a cup of tamarind water (water from the tamarind pulp), stir for 5 minutes, then add the kaffir lime leaves, kerisik (stir fried dessicated coconut), brown sugar and salt. In France, I can find kaffir lime leaves frozen or dry, I like the frozen one.  I keep adding water to my tamarind pulp and when the rendang gets too dry, I add the water from the tamarind pulp, cook for about an hour.  Since this time I bought very cheap cut of tough beef, I cook it for another half hour.
If you don't have chilli powder, just add some ginger powder, galangal powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, cardamon powder and chilli powder.  About 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tbsp coriander powder, chilli powder according to how spicy you want your rendang.  ginger powder, galangal powder, cardamon powder, just a dash.  If you can find ginger and galangal fresh, about an inch each.  Lazy cook loves to use only dry ingredients to save time, money and washing up.  Taste, errrr..., away from Malaysia, NOT BAD!!

Beef Rendang