Indonesian Beef Curry

Rendang Daging Recipe

This easy recipe will show you how to make a delicious slow-cooked Indonesian Beef curry in coconut milk.

This recipe is my attempt to recreate the Rendang Daging that I used to get with my take-aways at the Dapur Ibu many years ago. Again it is not a perfect copy but it is close.

Frying the spice paste

Indonesian Food

I lived in Holland (sorry, the Netherlands!) for 30 years. One of their old colonies dating back to the days of the Dutch East Indies Company, was Indonesia.

Without going into any detail about this part of history, a huge spinoff from this period is that it did help introduce some interesting food to the Dutch tables.

Browning the steak

In Holland you will often see restaurants that serve Chinese and Indonesian food on the same menu. This is very common.

Typical Dutch efficiency you could call it perhaps, even though the food from these countries is quite different.

Before cooking

But the jewel on the crown in these Dutch restaurants is the Indonesian ‘Rijstafel’. This is a Dutch word that means literally ‘Rice Table’ and describes a mix of different side dishes like Gado Gado, sateh, babi panggang, babi ketjap, lumpia, kroepek (shrimp crackers), bami and of course, rendang curry.

Indonesian Beef Curry

If you ever go to visit the Netherlands you should definitely try a ‘rijstafel’. They are actually VERY good.

Indonesian Beef Curry

This Indonesian beef curry recipe will show you how to make a Rendang curry (as it is known in Indonesia). This beef Rendang recipe is not only very easy to make, but it does produce an absolutely delicious beef curry, as the beef is slow cooked in coconut milk.

OK, so it is not quick to make, but it is worth the wait.

I have used some rendang curry paste in this recipe, because I actually had it available, but do not worry too much if you cannot get hold of it. The homemade paste and coconut will give it the flavour it needs.

Meat falling apart

I have used my trusty Le Creuset Dutch oven to make this dish in the oven, but of course, you could also use your favourite slow cooker to produce the same results.

Indonesia

I was lucky enough to go to Indonesia to the islands of Java and Bali about 30 years ago on an engineering project I was working on. We were building trains locally in Indonesia for use in Jakarta.

I actually spent 2 weeks in Bandung commissioning a vacuum pressure impregnation plant for insulating the stators of traction motors. It was quite an experience. I also managed to sneak in a weekend diving on Bali, which was a real treat.

From what I saw Indonesia back then seemed to me to be a beautiful country and the people were all very friendly. During that time I was also introduced to several different Asian dishes, one of which was this rendang curry.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. It is nice served up with some coconut rice or Jasmine coconut rice, whatever takes your fancy.

Please let me know how you get on in the comments section below.

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Indonesian Beef Curry

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes

This delicious Indonesian Beef curry is slow cooked to produce a wonderful spicy and tender beef rendang. Serve up with some coconut rice. Delish!

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Ingredients

The Paste

• 1 1/2 Onions
• 4 red chillies
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp Tumeric
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• Vegetable Oil

The meat

• 1,3 kg chuck steak, cut large (say about 1 inch cubes)

The sauce

• 1 sq. inch fresh ginger, thinly sliced into rounds
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 400 ml cans coconut milk
• 40g desiccated coconut
• 2 x curry leaves
• 2 tbsp Rendang Curry spice paste

To Garnish

• 2 tbsp crispy onions
• Chopped fresh coriander
• 2 tbsp Roasted Almonds

Instructions

1. Start by putting the onions, 2 of the chillies, garlic, salt, cumin, coriander and tumeric into a food processor. Zap it all into a paste.
2. Fry the paste for about 2-3 minutes and then put it into your slow cooker or Dutch oven.
3. Then take the steak pieces and fry them in the oil in batches until brown on all sides.
4. When the steak is browned add it to whichever cooking vessel you are using.
5. Then cover the steak and fried paste with the coconut milk. Then add the ginger, sugar, coconut, curry leaves and Rendang curry paste.
6. Stir well to mix all the ingredients together.
7. Then cook at 160C for about 3-4 hours, or until the meat has become tender and is beginning to fall apart.

Notes

Serve up with some white rice or jasmine coconut rice. Garnish with some fresh coriander and roasted almonds and some crispy onions if you fancy.

Also goes well served up with some prawn crackers!

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