Beef Curry Dry Fried

Click to Enlarge	Beef Curry Dry Fried Indonesia - Rendang daging
Click to Enlarge	Serves Effort: Sched: DoAhead:	2 *** 2-1/4 hr Yes		An intensely flavored dry curry that makes a good side dish for a Western menu or one component of an Asian menu. I consider it a little too intense (though not chili hot) to be the only main dish and too dry to stand alone with rice.

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Beef, lean
--- Paste
Coconut, shredded
Galingal
Lemon Grass
Ginger root
Chilis, red (1)
Shallots
Garlic
Turmeric
Salt
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Oil
Coconut Milk
Salam Leaf (2)
Stock

Prep

Trim BEEF of any excess fat and cut into 1 inch cubes.
Dry fry SHREADED COCONUT until golden for paste.
Chop fine ALL Paste Ingredients, including bottom 4 inches of LEMON GRASS (tie a knot in the top and set aside) and pound together into a paste. I start by chopping small, then run in a mini-prep food processor, adding in order listed (hardest and dryest first, and finish by pounding in a big Thai stone mortar.

Run

Heat Oil in a coverable wok or sauté pan and fry Beef stirring until lightly browned. Remove from the oil and set aside.
In the same oil (add a little if needed) fry the Paste for about 1 minute until fragrent. Stir in Coconut Milk, then Salem Leaves, Lemongrass top, Beef and Stock. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 1-1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Watch that it doesn't get too dry but there should be very little liquid when it's done.
Serve accompanied by steamed Jasmine rice and other dishes.

NOTES:

Chilis: Fresh red Fresno or Holland Red chilis are fine. The Holland Red are more authentic but generally unavailable and they're getting ground up anyway, so no-one will know. See my Chili Page for more information.
Salam Leaf: Still pretty much unavailable fresh (and pretty much worthless dried). Fresh curry leaves, now easily available (at least in S. California) are the best known substitute (bay leaves are not recommended).
U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch