Beef rendang

Cut up dried guajillo chilies; with green cardamom, a piece of star anise, cloves and cinnamon stick, grind the dry spices.

Add the candlenuts last and grind until the mixture thickens and turns slightly wet from their oil.

Put ginger, lemongrass, galangal, shallots and garlic in a blender jug with the ground spices and blitz with an immersion blender to a paste. With a jug blender, add a little water or coconut milk.

Boil some coconut milk, add the curry paste right away and let the coconut milk reduce with the paste, stirring, until the coconut oil separates and fries the paste.

Add the beef chuck and toss to coat, then add the remaining coconut milk and scrape up everything stuck to the bottom.

Season with salt and tamarind.

Simmer two and a half to three hours with the lid slightly ajar, stirring and scraping the bottom more often as the sauce thickens so the paste does not burn, until a thick sauce coats the beef. Add water if needed, or uncover at the end to reduce.

Add kaffir lime leaves.

For kerisik, toast dry shredded coconut in a dry pan to deep dark brown, then grind in a mortar and pestle until oily. Stir it into the rendang.

Taste and adjust saltiness with a little more salt or a touch of fish sauce.

Fry dried chilies until crispy and sprinkle them around as an optional spicy garnish. Serve with rice; the beef should be fork tender and pull apart.