Last night I cooked one of the recipes I’d learned at my Southeast Asian cooking class the day before: beef kurmah. I thought the dish had been good, though not great, but I also wanted to give it a try – and I thought the kids might actually enjoy the mild flavors. Indeed they did, Mika even pronounced it very good, (and if Mika likes something, Camila will be willing to eat it as well), which made me quite happy.
This kurmah is interesting as the spicing is similar to those of Indian dishes, but the base is very southeast asian – and it’s based on coconut milk rather than ghee or yogurt. It’s fairly easy to make and requires no unusual ingredients, save for the star anise, which you can find in many an Asian store. Or you could skip it and add some anise or fennel seeds instead. Our teacher used a small pyramid shaped red chili, but she said she had quite a difficulty finding it. I substituted with a jalapeño. If you want it spicy use a few more.
My one problem with this curry was that by the time the beef was done, after 30 minutes, it was still very liquid. I solved this by boiling off the liquid, stirring occasionally, on high heat.
Beef Kurmah
- 8 small shallots or 4-5 big ones, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1 Tbsp ginger, sliced
- 1 stalk lemongrass, sliced
- 1 red chili, sliced.
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 lb flank steak, cut into 1 1/2″ chunks
- 1 Tbsp. ground coriander
- 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick, broken in two
- 4 cloves
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup peanuts, ground
- salt to taste
Preparation
Put shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and chili in a blender or food processor. Add water. Blend until it becomes a smooth paste. Set it aside.
Heat a wok until very hot and add the oil. Stir fry the beef in batches until brown on all sides. Remove.
Add the shallot paste and fry until most of the water is boiled off, stirring often. Add the coriander, the cumin, the anise, the cinnamon and the cloves. Cook, stirring, for another minute or two.
Return beef to the wok and add the coconut milk and broth. Mix well and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes. Uncover and boil off some of the liquid. Add the peanuts and cook, stirring, until the curry is the consistency you like. Season with salt to taste. Serve with rice.
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