{beef rendang in hermie}

One of the lunches that we used to eat on the weekend growing up was a curry or rendang with roti. Because my mum was a working mum and constantly time poor, the rendang that she would cook would often have a spice paste that originated from a packet and then she would add various ingredients of her own. I ate this from quite a young age so it was one of a number of dishes that I used to 'train' my chilli eating skills on. Not to say that I can eat very hot chilli now however, whenever I eat this beef rendang in a Nasi Lemak with Acar, I toe the line of eating chilli for the pleasure, and crossing over into a world of chilli pain where your tongue slowly starts to lose its feeling from the edges in and you can feel the sweat forming on your head! 

Anyway... back to the beef rendang. After going to cooking school in Singapore a few years back, I realised that all the ingredients that were in the spice paste of a rendang were readily available in Australia and that I was familiar with all of them. A simple trip to the local Asian grocer is all that was needed to come up with a home cooked version of the tasty dish. I then made it my mission to find a super tasty recipe and I didn't have to look far. One of my favourite blogs is Not Quite Nigella and she has written her mother's recipe on the site. I have previously tried it using a good old pot, stick mixer and stove and it was delicious. In fact, I gave some to my mum and dad to try and they too think that it's the best beef rendang that they've had for some time. 

So, this time round, I've tried to convert it (and have also adjusted some quantities) so that I can cook it in the Thermomix. I think it's just as good however, I didn't get the dark caramelly colour of the sauce as dark as I like. It may have been because I wanted to eat it but we'll see what happens when I make it the next time.

120 grams desiccated coconut
1 1/2 teaspoons tamarind paste
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
800-1000 grams beef, cubed about 3-4 cm

Spice Paste:
2 brown onions, peeled & halved
16 dried chillies, soaked in hot water (the original recipe was 30 so adjust to your chilli taste)
2 red chillies (more or less depending on how much heat you would like)
1 big thumb of ginger
1 small thumb of galangal
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons of toasted coconut (from above)

Curry Sauce:
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
3 kaffir lime leaves
2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, bruised
1 slice galangal
2 1/2 tablespoons palm sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
4 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (e.g. canola)
560ml coconut milk

1. Place desiccated coconut in a normal fry pan. Dry roast until golden brown. I have tried doing this in the Thermomix and can't seem to get it to brown. I think it's a combination of too much moisture in the coconut and not enough heat from the Thermomix.

2. Meanwhile, place tamarind paste, salt and sugar in an extra bowl. Mix together and add beef.

3.  Add all spice paste ingredients to TM bowl and chop 10-12secs/ speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl. Note: be careful when opening the lid, a big hit of chilli will hit you in the face and make you cough!

4. Add in rest of spice paste ingredients and cook 5mins/ varoma/ stir speed/ reverse until fragrant.

5. Add in half the coconut milk (the thicker,creamy milk) and the beef. Depending on how much beef you're using, I add in the beef pieces and leave the desiccated coconut behind until I see it's not going to exceed the maximum level of the TM bowl. If there's space, I then add in the rest of the coconut. Cook 40mins / varoma/ stir speed/ reverse. Note: Depending on how full your TM bowl is it may 'bubble' over through the MC. If this is the case, change the temp to 100C.

6. Add in the rest of the lighter coconut milk and cook further 40mins/ 90C/ stir speed/ reverse. Check to see how tender the meat is and if you like the sauce runnier or thicker. Cook a further 60mins/ 90C/ stir speed/ reverse if required for a thicker and darker sauce (i do this bit due to the amount of meat cooked but if you use less, then adjust accordingly).

Bon Appetit xx

Beef Rendang shown here as part of Nasi Lemak with Acar, Ikan Bilis and Eggs with Prawn Sambal