Beef Rendang from Malaysia

Beef rendang is not a quick dish to make.  It will take you at least 3 hours but the resulting taste sensation will be worth all the time it took to make.  Granted, you will not be hovering over a cooking pot for 3 hours!  Every time I've traveled to Malaysia I've always made sure that I had some beef rendang.  No beef rendang is made exactly the same and it's okay for you to put your own spin on it.

500g boneless beef cut into cubes
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cloves
2 star anise
3 cardamom pods
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 can coconut milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup water
5 tablespoons desiccated coconut
salt to taste
Spice Paste:
1 onion roughly chopped
1 tablespoon ginger finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 lemon grass stalk roughly chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 large chilies deseeded and finely chopped
For the rendang paste, put all the spice ingredients into a food processor and blend until you have a fine paste.
Heat the oil in a large pot and add the rendang paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise and cardamom.  Fry them until the aroma fills the kitchen.  Add the beef and stir for a minute.  Add the coconut milk, water and lime juice.  Bring to the boil then let it simmer for an hour until the meat is nearly done.  Toast the coconut flakes in a dry pan until they are lightly browned.  Add the toasted coconut flakes, kaffir lime and sugar to the rendang.  Stir it in well so that it blends in with the meat.  Let it simmer for another hour until the meat is falling apart and the gravy has almost dried up.  Add salt to taste.  Serve with steamed rice.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv in Ukraine.  She is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B.  All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format. http://cindyvine.com