I am not a fan of curried beef…I most often find that beef is dry and quite stringy. I love the tenderness of a South African beef…so I decided to create a recipe that used my favourite cut of beef with my favourite flavours.

Beef Rendang is a highly aromatic Indonesian speciality and one of the recipes that I cooked up on Sugar ‘n Spice. Stewing cuts of beef are normally used for this recipe and it takes hours to cook to get the meat perfectly tender. For those of you that know me, I like the fabulous fast approach to food…quick, easy and delicious…so I came up with the Cheat’s Rendang.

A store-bought Rendang paste just won’t do when it comes to making this dish…The lemongrass, ginger, makrut lime leaves, garlic and chilli are blitzed in a my Kenwood blender…I add a little water to ensure the paste is not too thin.

I serve the Rendang with Roti Paratas which I learnt how to make in Asia…it’s a Muslim speciality and a visual feast too….the dough is soft and pliable and is slapped around and stretched until paper-thin. I am not experienced so have applied a gentler approach to work the dough into a thin sheet.

These two dishes are match made in heaven.

Roti Paratha

Makes 8

Ingredients

500g cake flour
5ml salt
30ml soft butter
15ml condensed milk
170ml warm water
100ml melted butter

Here’s how

Place the cake flour and salt into a Kenwood mixer.
Use the paddle attachment to work the butter into the flour until it removes bread crumbs.
Dissolve the condensed milk into the warm water and pour this into the mixing bowl.
Use the dough hook to work the mixture for a few minutes until the dough is soft and smooth.
Divide the dough into 8 portions.
Roll each portion into a length.
Coil up half the length toward the centre and then repeat on the opposite side, coiling the length in the opposite direction.
The dough should look like an ‘S’.
Fold the one coiled section over the other.
Dip the dough in warm melted butter and place on a dinner plate.
Repeat until all the dough is coiled and dipped.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and leave aside for 3 hours or max overnight.
Press the dough and work it until it is paper-thin.
Oil the work surface if necessary and dip your fingers in the melted butter to prevent sticking.
Drape the paper-thin dough into a pleated fan and coil tightly.
Leave the dough to rest for an hour.
Press the dough into a thin round using your fingertips.
Also use the palms of your hand to press the dough into a thin round.
Heat an AMC skillet and cook the rounds on a medium heat.
When the roti paratha turns golden brown, flip it over and drizzle a little melted butter over.
Flip the roti paratha again and cook until golden brown and crispy.
Serve immediately with beef rendang or a curry of your choice.

Yudhika’s tips:

This dough can be made without a mixer but it takes hours and lots of kneading.
The dough must be rested to get the best result.
These are best eaten as soon as they are cooked.

Beef Rendang

Ingredients

600g beef fillet
Salt to season fillet
Sunflower oil, to drizzle over fillet

1 onion, finely chopped
Salt to season
30ml ginger
5 cloves garlic
3 small stalks lemongrass, chopped
5ml turmeric
15ml crushed red chillies
2 – 3 green chillies, chopped
1 cinnamon stick
2 – 3 cardamom pods
4 makrut lime leaves
30ml sunflower oil
400ml coconut milk

30ml tamarind paste

Here’s how:
Heat an AMC skillet and lightly season the beef fillet.
When the skillet is smoking hot, sear the beef fillet.
Drizzle a little oil over the fillet and turn the meat until it is brown on all sides.
Wrap the fillet in foil and leave the meat to rest for 10 minutes.
Slice the fillet into pieces.

To prepare the rendang paste:
Place the ginger, garlic, chopped lemongrass, turmeric, crushed red chillies, green chillies, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and makrut lime leaves in a kenwood blender.
Add the sunflower oil and process until smooth.
Heat a little oil on medium in a 30cm AMC roaster.
Add the chopped onion and salt.
Saute until the onion is light golden brown in colour.
Add the rendang paste and fry until fragrant.
Pour the coconut milk into the paste and stir.
Simmer for a minute and then add the sliced beef fillet.
Pour the tamarind paste into the pot and simmer until the beef is cooked through (medium or medium well is my preference).
Garnish with fresh coriander.

Yudhika’s tips:

Leftover roasted chicken or lamb can be used successfully in this recipe.
Adjust the chilli according to your taste.
I used Chao Koh coconut milk – you can also use the Spar brand coconut cream as a replacement.