By Kalai Subramaniam, Sri Puteri Malaysian Restaurant

• Prep time: 20 mins
• Cook time: 1 hour
• Finished in: 1 hour 20 mins

Ingredients

• 1kg beef, thinly sliced or diced
• 500g red onion, diced
• 50g lemongrass, roughly chopped
• 50g galangal, roughly chopped
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 6 tablespoons shredded coconut
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 3 pandan leaves, optional*
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons oil
• salt to taste

Method

Roast coconut in a dry pot on a low heat, stirring continuously for 10 minutes, until dark brown in colour. Keep aside.In a food processor, blend together the red onion, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves and garlic. Blend for 2 - 3 minutes to form a smooth puree which will be used as the rendang paste.
Heat the wok and add the cooking oil. Once the oil is hot, add in the pandan leaves, cumin powder, coriander powder, curry powder and rendang paste. Cook on a low heat until the oil rises to the surface.
Add the beef and coconut cream and cook at a low heat, stirring regularly for thirty minutes. Cook for one hour or until the meat is tender.Once tender, add the roasted coconut, sugar and salt and mix

Serve immediately with steamed rice.

  Malaysian ingredients like kaffir lime leaves, galangal and pandan leaves are available throughout New Zealand at your local Asian food market and selected gourmet food stores.
*Pandan leaves are optional. They are used to impart a subtle flavour to Malaysian dishes