isithalal.food · Recipes
Halal beef rendang
Slow-cooked Indonesian beef rendang in coconut milk, lemongrass and a chilli, shallot, ginger and galangal paste, made with Halal beef and Halal-certified chicken stock powder, with turmeric rice.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Why Halal checks matter here
Rendang's beef is only Halal from Halal-slaughtered cattle, and BBC Good Food's version seasons both the curry and the rice with chicken stock powder, which needs a Halal mark too.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Beef: Beef is Halal only from Halal slaughter. Buy shin or skirt from a Halal butcher or a certified pack. See Beef and Rendang.
- Chicken stock powder: The recipe uses chicken stock powder in the curry and the rice, and chicken stock is Halal only from Halal-slaughtered chickens. Use a stock powder with a Halal certifier's mark, or a vegetable powder labelled vegan. See Stock cubes.
Ingredients
Paste
- 15 (15) dried chillies
- 6–8 (6–8) baby shallots
- thumb-sized piece (thumb-sized piece) ginger, chopped
- thumb-sized piece (thumb-sized piece) galangal, peeled and chopped (or more ginger)
- 3 (3) lemongrass stalks, chopped
Rendang
- 45 ml (3 tbsp) vegetable oil
- 2 kg (4½ lb) Halal beef shin or skirt, cut into bite-sized cubes
- 2 (2) lemongrass stalks, bashed
- 800 ml (2 × 400 ml cans) coconut milk
- 250 ml (1 cup) water
- 4 tbsp (4 tbsp) desiccated coconut
- 2 (2) makrut lime leaves, torn
- 1½ tbsp (1½ tbsp) Halal-certified chicken stock powder
- 2 tbsp (2 tbsp) tamarind paste
- 1 tsp (1 tsp) golden caster sugar
- ¼ tsp (¼ tsp) salt
Turmeric rice
- 30 ml (2 tbsp) oil
- 2 tsp (2 tsp) mustard seeds
- 2 tsp (2 tsp) ground turmeric
- 10 (10) curry leaves (optional)
- 700 g (3½ cups) jasmine rice
- 2 tsp (2 tsp) Halal-certified chicken stock powder
- 1 l (4 cups) water
Method
- Make the paste. Soak the dried chillies in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain, remove the seeds and blend with the shallots, ginger, galangal and chopped lemongrass in a small food processor until smooth.
- Start the rendang. Heat the oil in a wok or heavy flameproof casserole and fry the paste for 5 minutes until fragrant. Add the beef and the bashed lemongrass and mix well. Once the beef loses its pinkness, add the coconut milk and 250 ml water, bring to the boil and simmer uncovered for 2 hours, stirring now and then and more often towards the end.
- Toast the coconut. Meanwhile, toast the desiccated coconut in a dry frying pan over a low heat for 5 to 7 minutes until golden. Cool, then blend it coarsely.
- Finish the rendang. After 2 hours, add the toasted coconut, lime leaves, stock powder, tamarind, sugar and salt and simmer for 30 minutes more, until the oil starts to separate and the beef is tender and almost falling apart.
- Make the turmeric rice. Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan with a lid and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, stir in the turmeric, curry leaves if using, and the rice. Add the stock powder and 1 litre of water, bring to the boil, then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 5 minutes. Take off the heat and leave covered to steam for 25 minutes. Serve with the rendang.
Allergens
mustard (mustard seeds in the rice)
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Beef rendang' (a paste of soaked dried chillies, shallots, ginger, galangal and lemongrass fried for 5 minutes; 2 kg beef shin or skirt and lemongrass added, then two cans of coconut milk and 250 ml water simmered uncovered for 2 hours; toasted coconut, lime leaves, chicken stock powder, tamarind, sugar and salt added for 30 minutes more; turmeric rice with mustard seeds, curry leaves and chicken stock steamed for 25 minutes). We specified Halal beef and Halal-certified chicken stock powder. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Photograph from our ingredient library: a bowl of rendang, not the finished dish.