Indonesian Beef Curry

This is my husband’s signature dish. For as long as I have known him (over 13 years now!) he has been cooking this dish and it was on pretty high rotation in his “bachelor pad”. Whenever he volunteers (or is “encouraged” to volunteer) to cook dinner he’s bound to go for a variation of this meal. You can make it with chicken or lamb any other meat and served it with rice or noodles. It’s particularly yummy with sliced cucumber to add a refreshing crunch to complement the smooth sauce.

1 large onion
½ cup water
2cm piece green ginger
1½ tablespoons tomato paste
500g lean rump or boneless blade steak
¾ cup long grain rice
¼ teaspoon tumeric powder
1½ tablespoons oil
1 cucumber
1½ tablespoons curry powder
fresh coriander (optional)
¾ cup coconut milk

Chop onion and grate ginger. Slice meat thinly. Heat half the oil in a heavy frying pan. Brown meat and set aside. Heat remaining oil in pan and add onion, ginger and curry powder. Fry for a few minutes, stirring. Return meat to the pan and season to taste. Add coconut milk, water and tomato paste. Bring to the boil and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.

Put a large pot of water onto boil, add turmeric and then rice and cook for 7-10 minutes or until tender. Drain.

Uncover curry and simmer for a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve hot with rice and slice cucumber. Sprinkle with freshly chopped coriander, if using.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves 4