Beef Rendang with Coconut Rice

This is another traditional Malaysian favourite dish, usually you would need to cook it for an hour or two till the beef is soft and tender. I tried it out in my trusty pressure cooker again last night, it needed 35 minutes.

Recipe
Ingredients:

For the paste

5 shallots or 1 large red onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 stalks of lemon grass
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp of belacan (fermented prawn paste)
3 cm knob of fresh tumeric
3 cm knob of fresh galangal (substitute ginger if you can't find galangal)

For the spices
1 tbsp ground tumeric
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground cardamon
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 stick of cinnamon
3-4 cloves

1kg beef, diced into 3cm cubes (use chuck or blade)
300ml of coconut milk
2 tbsp of tamarind paste dissolved in 200ml of hot water
1/3 cup of desiccated coconut, dry toasted in a hot pan
2 tbsp cooking oil
(optional potatoes)

For the coconut rice
2 cups of basmati rice
2 cups of coconut milk
1/2 cup of water
pinch of salt
A few stalks of pandan (screw pine) leaves

Method:

1. Heat oil and saute the paste until it splits.
2. Add the spices, and a couple of tablespoons of water so it's not too dry.
3. Cook the spices for a few minutes.
4. Add the beef, and coat the spices evenly.
5. Then add the liquid and the desiccated coconut.
6. Cook covered for about 1 hour, stirring to avoid drying up and browning at the bottom if you cook it on the stove.
7. I used my pressure cooker and dial it up to 25 minutes, then add quartered peeled potatoes and cooked for a further 10 minutes.
8. I cooked the rice in a rice cooker.

 Here it is in the pressure cooker before I added the potatoes, it thickened up a bit after.