Curry Rice

"Curry", despite its origins in India, has manifestations in every country. Perhaps especially unique is Japanese curry, or curry rice as it is uaully known, as it's always served with rice.

The Japanese don't especially care for spice, so Japanese curry tends to be toned down quite a bit form its Indian counterpart, and unlike curry, which is thickened through yogurt, cream, or coconut milk, curry rice is thickened with roux, more like a stew or etouffee.

Japanese garam masala isn't exactly like Indian garma masala, although you can use the latter for a slightly spicier mix.

Curry Rice

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 1/2 hours

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 lb beef stewing chunks

6 large onions, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch piece of ginger

1 can crushed tomatoes (2 cups)

1 beef stock cube

1 bay leaf

1 star anise

2 tbsp garam masala

3 large carrots, chopped

1 medium apple, peeled and grated

salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp oil or ghee

Roux:

4 tbsp butter ghee or oil

4 tbsp white flour

2 tbsp curry powder

Ingredients:

Heat 3 tbsp oil or ghee in the bottom of a large pot. Brown beef chunks, and then set aside on a paper towel.

Add onions and a pinch of salt. Slowly sautee onions until caramelized. Be patient, as this proces may take a long time.

Once the onions are soft and browned, add ginger and garlic and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the canned tomato, 6 cups of water, beef cube, the bay leaf, star anise, and apple. Bring to a boil, then lower and simmer for an hour.

While this is happening, dry roast 1 tbsp garam masala about 30 minutes into simmering.

Produce a Roux:

Melt the 4 tbsp ghee or oil in a pan over very low heat, and mix in the flour. Cook very slowly, stirring constantly. There's an art to this, and it takes patience. If you burn it, throw it out and try again. In about five minutes the mixture will be peanut butter colored. This mix, known as a Roux (pronounced "roo") will thicken your curry rice.

Remove the roux from heat and add the curry powder to the roux.

When the meat is about as tender as you'd like add the potatoes, and continue slowly simmering until potatoes are soft.

Take the pot off the heat and stir in the roux. Return it to heat and simmer for a couple more minutes. Dry roast the rest of the garam masala and add it to the curry.

Serve over sushi rice.

Beef Rendang

Another one of Indonesia's more famous dishes is beef rendang, a spicy curry-like preparation of beef and coconut. Based on this recipe.

You may need to make some substitutions on this one- don't be afraid to. Tamarind pulp can be replaced by lemon juice mixed with brown sugar, kaffir lime leaves can be replaced with basil, and palm sugar can be replaced by white sugar, or preferably turbinado sugar. Galangal can be omitted if you can't find it. Toasted coconut can be made by dry roasting shredded coconut on a frying pan or wok.

Beef Rendang

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 hours

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb beef, cubed

5 tbsp cooking oil

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves

3 star anise

3 cardamom pods

1 lemon grass, sliced and pounded

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup water

2 tbsp taramind pulp

6 kaffir lime leaves

6 tbsp toasted coconut

1 tbsp palm sugar

Spice Paste:

5 shallots

1 inch galangal
3 lemongrass (white part only)

5 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger

10-12 chilli peppers

Preparation:

Chop the spice paste ingredients and use a food processor to turn them into a paste.

Cooking:

In a medium pot, heat the oil and then add the spice paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, snd cardamom pods, and stir fry until aromatic. Add the beef and lemongrass, and cook for one minute.

Add the coconut milk, tamarind juice, and water, and simmer on medium heat until the meat is almost cooked. Then add the kaffir lime leaves, toasted coconut, and palm sugar.

Simmer on low heat 1 1/2 hours, or until the meat is tender and the liquid is mostly gone. Add salt to taste.