Malaysian Beef Curry

This took two years for me to develop and I'm so excited to share it with you!

I’ve been making this wildly delicious stew for about two years now. It’s evolved from something I vaguely remember coming across on Instagram one day to searching the Internet for a recipe that sort of sounded similar and scouring the city for spices that would work.

Over those two years it’s slowly come together nicely and I’m very excited to share it for the first time here.

*Update: I have prepared a convenient pack of spices to make cooking this dish incredibly easy.

Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: +4 hours
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients

• 3-4 lbs stewing beef, short ribs, or beef cheeks, cubed - a combination also works

• 2L stock (chicken, shrimp or beef)

• 3-5 star anise

• 5 kaffir lime leaves

• 4 cardamon pods, bruised lightly with the butt of a knife or mallet

• 2 lemongrass stocks, trimmed and also bruised

• 1 onion, roughly diced

• 3 cloves garlic, diced

• 3 tbsp flour

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 2 cans of coconut milk

• 1 tbsp fish sauce

• 3-4 medium potatoes, cut into 1/8ths (I don’t peel them but you can if you want)

• 1 large knuckle of ginger, peeled and sliced or grated

• Malaysian curry powder

• Olive oil

• Kosher salt

• A pack of 10 roti from your favourite roti place

Method

Step 1

• Preheat your oven to 275°F.

• Generously salt the beef and set aside for 30 minutes. Overnight is cool, too.

• Coat the beef in flour. I like to do the old shake ‘n’ bake method in a ziplock bag. You’re looking for a light dusting of flour.

• In a large heavy pot (cast iron or ceramic coated), over medium heat, sear off the beef, in batches, until you have a nice brown colouring on all sides. Pull the beef out and place it in a large mixing bowl as you work through the batches.

• Add a bit more olive oil and the onions. Sauté until they soften, about 5-7 minutes.

• Add the garlic, sauté for 2-3 minutes, being careful not to let it burn.

• Add back the beef and keep stirring.

• Add the stock and coconut milk, gently stir to combine.

• Add the lemongrass, fish sauce and all of the remaining ingredients and spices. Gently stir to combine. Do not add the potatoes just yet.

• Bring to a quick boil and then reduce to a simmer. Check your salt levels here. The broth should taste exactly as salty as you want it at this point. You will probably need to add a few pinches of salt.

• Remove from heat. Place in the preheated oven without a lid.

• Slow cook in the oven for 3-4 hours.

Step 2

• After at least 3 hours remove from the oven, add the potatoes, and place back in the oven for 1 more hour.

• Remove from oven and let rest on the stovetop while you prep the roti.

Step 3

• Warm the roti by simply folding them twice into a triangle and giving them a 45-second zap in the microwave

• Ladle a healthy portion of the stew into a deep bowl and serve alongside a few warmed roti and some ice cold Corona. Eat with a spoon, and use your hands to dip the roti. Grab a few pieces of beef with them. Get fkn into it, this stuff is DELICIOUS.