Nancy Lam cooks up a delicious Indonesian coconut curry. Serve with Nancy's fluffy steamed rice.
Ingredients
8 dried chillies, soaked in hot water
3 cm galangal
2 cm ginger
2 stalks lemongrass
4 cm fresh turmeric root
10 shallots, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
For the curry
500g rump steaks
3 tbsp vegetable oil, for frying
2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
Dark brown sugar, to taste
100g unsweetened desiccated coconut, toasted
Method
For the curry paste
1. Blend all the ingredients into a smooth paste and set aside.
For the curry
1. Cut the beef into five centimetre chunks. Put in a pan of water and bring to the boil. Drain and rinse off any bits that you don't want.
2. Heat half the oil in a large pan or wok and fry the curry paste until it darkens a little and smells aromatic. Add the beef and stir-fry until browned.
3. Cover with water and bring to a simmer. Add the lemongrass, and salt and sugar to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Crumble in the block of coconut and simmer for another 30 minutes, or until the beef is tender and the sauce thick and reduced.
5. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and fry the desiccated coconut until golden brown. Blend into a fine powder in a food processor and stir through the finished curry.
To serve
Serve with fluffy steamed rice.