Khmer Beef Curry

Directions

1- Use a mortar and pestle (or a food processor) to pound the coriander and ginger together

2- Marinate beef in coriander and ginger mix for at least an hour, seasoned with salt, pepper, and some sugar (Pic 2)

3- Use mortar and pestle to pound shallots, star anise, coriander seeds, and chilli together (Pic 3 + 4)

4- In your slow cooker (using the 'brown' function, or on high), mix onions, lemongrass, garlic, and a little bit of oil, saute for a few minutes

5- Add 1/3 coconut cream can, and continue to fry - when the cream stars to reduce, add the shallots / star anise / coriander / chilli mix, stir, and then add curry powder and garam masala (Pic 5)

6- Add marinated steak, stir through thoroughly and brown the meat well (Pic 6)

7- Add the remainder of the coconut cream, fish sauce and enough water to just about cover the meat (Pic 7)

8- Slow cook on low for however long you want, anywhere between 4-6 hours would be a happy spot

9- Reduce the sauce just prior to serving

10- Stir through peanuts, then serve with rice

Notes

1* On amount of chilli - that's entirely up to you. You can omit chilli entirely from this dish, and will still have plenty of flavour

2- I use a mixture of Kampot pepper, mountain berry, and Sichuan for this, but you can just use black pepper

3- for best results, do the recipe in steps, and make sure to sear / brown your meat

4- you can absolutely just put everything in together, but flavour and colour depth won't be the same

5- you can leave out the coriander if you're not a fan

6- works beautifully with lamb (especially lamb shanks)

7- for the keen eyed out there ... this is very, very similar to the more familiar Thai Massaman Curry