Cooking with Colm O'Gorman: Eat this Beef Rendang when you can't face any more turkey 

Like most curries, this one tastes better a day or two after you make it

This curry is mild enough for little people too. 

You will likely not be surprised to read that one of my favourite things about Christmas is the food. I am a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas lunch, so we will be having a roast turkey and ham with all the trimmings. On St. Stephens Day we will feast on the leftovers. There is a special joy in going to the fridge whenever you fancy it in the days after Christmas and loading up a plate of turkey and ham with stuffing and lots of homemade cranberry sauce. I often reheat any leftover roast potatoes in a very hot pan with a little oil to get them good and crispy and do the same with roast carrots and parsnips. Bliss.

Leftovers do lose their charm though if they last too long, and there are only so many turkey leftover dishes that anyone can take before getting very bored. I tend to buy a bird that will last for two days or so, and then plan a few other meals for the rest of the week. This week’s recipe is perfect for a family meal over the holidays. It can be made well in advance and then either served up as a bit of feast for family and visitors, or everyone can help themselves whenever they are feeling hungry.

Beef Rendang is a gorgeous Malaysian curry that tastes best when eaten a day or two after it has been cooked. This recipe makes six to eight generous servings. You could serve it with some plain boiled rice or flatbreads.

For the beef, I used a rump joint that I cut into 3cm chunks instead of buying pre-diced beef. You want larger cubes of meat for this recipe, and it is also more cost-effective to buy a one kilo joint of beef rump than a few packs of diced beef. If you cannot get hold of any kaffir lime leaves, you can substitute three bay leaves and the zest of two limes. If you do not have any tamarind concentrate, substitute two teaspoons of white wine vinegar and one teaspoon of caster sugar.

Beef rendang

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

Beef Rendang is a gorgeous Malaysian curry that tastes best when eaten a day or two after it has been cooked.

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 40 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the spice paste:

• 250g shallots

• 4 stalks lemongrass

• 6 cloves garlic

• 60g fresh ginger

• 3-4 red chillies

• For the curry:

• 1kg beef cut into 3cm chunks

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 5 cloves

• 5 star anise

• 8 cardamom pods

• 1 stalk of lemongrass

• 400ml coconut milk

• 2 tsp tamarind concentrate

• 8 kaffir lime leaves

• 80g desiccated coconut

• 2 tbsp brown or coconut sugar

• 1 ½ tsp flaky sea salt

Method

1. First, make your spice paste. You just want the white part of the lemongrass stalks for the paste, so cut that away from the rest add chop it into smaller pieces. Retain the top halves for later to use in the curry. Peel the garlic and ginger and chop them roughly. Wash and roughly chop the chillies. I leave the stalks and seeds in for a little extra heat, but you can remove them if you want a mild curry. Pop everything into a food processor and blitz to a smooth paste.

2. Toast the desiccated coconut in a dry pan until it is golden brown. Once you see it start to go brown at the edges, keep an eye on it so that it does not begin to burn, tossing it regularly until it is nicely toasted. Take it off the heat and let it cool before blitzing it in a food processor until it is finely ground, with a texture like brown sugar. Set aside for now.

3. Heat a few tablespoons of olive or coconut oil in a large heavy based pan or casserole dish over a high heat. When it is good and hot, add the cubed beef, reduce the heat to medium, and brown the beef all over. Remove the beef from the pan. Lightly bruise the cardamom pods. Turn the heat up a little and add a little more oil to the pan if needed. Pop in the star anise, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom pods. Fry the spices for two minutes until they are nice and fragrant. Now use a rolling pin to bruise the lemongrass stalks very gently, including the tops of the stalks left over from making the spice paste. Add the lemongrass and the beef to the pan and cook for another few minutes, stirring a few times. Add the coconut milk, tamarind and 400ml of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Add the kafir lime leaves, sugar, and the toasted ground coconut. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to as low as possible and cook for one and a half hours.

4. Check the beef after an hour has passed. It should be getting quite tender at this stage and the sauce will have thickened a little. I usually leave the lid off for the last thirty minutes of cooking to allow the sauce to reduce down and thicken. After the full ninety minutes, you should have wonderfully tender pieces of beef and a lovely dark thick sauce. Taste and season as required. You can eat this straight away, but I really do recommend that you make it at least day in advance to allow the flavours to fully develop.