GLUTEN-FREE BEEF RENDANG
This delicious, Indonesian Beef Rendang ‘curry’ is not a saucy affair. The cooking liquid is reduced to an unctuous gravy which thickly coats the tender, slowly cooked meat. It’s unashamedly spicy and rich.
Beef Rendang is very easy to make so don’t be put off by the number of ingredients as most are simply thrown into the blender and all are readily available at the supermarket (in Australia, at least, with our close proximity to and love of all things Asian).
Serve your Beef Rendang as part of a shared meal along with rice, vegetables and perhaps our Gluten-free Chicken Satay.
We’ve even thrown tradition to the wind and served ours as individual pies topping them with our Gluten-free Cream Cheese Pastry and accompanied them with our version of an Indonesian bean dish, Sambal Goreng Buncis, along with a green salad dressed with an Asian vinaigrette. It was a lovely combination.
We think a good Beef Rendang is very hard to find and, even if we do say so ourselves, look no further. We think we’ve nailed it.
Rosie
GLUTEN-FREE BEEF RENDANG (with thanks to Charmaine Solomon)
Serves 8 as part of a shared meal
2 brown onions, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
6 fresh red birds eye chillies, seeded
1 stalk lemongrass, tender part only, trimmed and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1.5 teaspoons salt
1.5 teaspoons turmeric
3 teaspoons chilli powder (or to taste)
2.5 teaspoons ground coriander
6 curry leaves
1 teaspoon galangal powder
2 teaspoons coconut or brown sugar
500 ml coconut milk
1.5 kg gravy beef (shin beef) well-trimmed and cut into 4 cm dice
2 tablespoons tamarind puree (or to taste)
Place onions, garlic, ginger, chillies and lemongrass in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Heat oil in a large saucepan and fry the processed mixture over a medium heat until soft and beginning to colour.
Add salt, turmeric, chilli powder, coriander, curry leaves, galangal powder and coconut sugar to the saucepan and fry, stirring until the coconut sugar has dissolved.
Add the coconut milk and stir to combine all the ingredients. Add the meat and bring to a simmer. Add the tamarind liquid and simmer UNCOVERED for approximately 2 hours or until the meat is very tender but not falling apart, stirring from time to time, more often towards the end of cooking to ensure the meat doesn’t catch.
Remove meat with a skimmer and bring the sauce to a fast simmer, stirring regularly until the sauce has reduced and is very thick and rich. Return the meat to the sauce and stir to coat.
Serve immediately with rice and vegetable accompaniments or allow to cool and refrigerate until ready to serve.
TIP:
The Rendang freezes well. Defrost in the fridge before gently re-heating