CURRY AND TURMERIC RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. To make any of the above curry pastes, first peel the garlic and ginger. Put a frying pan on a medium to high heat and add the spices for toasting to the dry pan. Lightly toast them for a few minutes until golden brown and smelling delicious, then remove the pan from the heat.
  2. Add the toasted spices to a pestle and mortar and grind until fine, or put them into a food processor and whiz to a powder. Either way, when you’ve ground them whiz the toasted spices in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and ½ a teaspoon of sea salt until you have a smooth paste.

Steps:

• 1. Thinly slice the shallots, peel the garlic and deseed the chillies, and put in the bowl of a food processor. Peel and roughly chop the fresh turmeric, ginger and galangal, and add to the bowl with the ground turmeric and tamarind. Blitz until it forms a rough paste.
  2. Remove the tough outer leaves of the lemongrass and roughly chop the stalks. Roughly tear the kaffir lime leaves.
  3. Heat 4 tablespooons of vegetable oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Stir in the paste, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, season with sea salt and black pepper, and cook for 5 minutes.
  4. Trim the beef and cut into 4cm pieces. Add to the pan and cook for 10 minutes, or until the pieces begin to brown, stirring to make sure the meat is coated in the paste.
  5. Stir in the coconut milk, pop on the lid, and simmer over a low heat for 1 to 1½ hours, or until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.
  6. Deseed and thinly slice the red chilli and scatter over the curry. Delicious with boiled rice and fried crispy shallots.